An intense summer hailstorm swept through Innisfail and area on Aug. 6 damaging property and crops with pea-sized ice balls leaving a layer of snow-like precipitation in its wake.
Late in the evening on Aug. 6, gathering clouds turned into a rain drenched lightning and thunder show that included marble-sized hailstones which were still visible as late as noon on Aug. 7 in ditches and shaded areas.
Innisfail resident John Fedyk was left with a substantial reminder of the night's storm.
“I have a drain in front of my home that is the low point of the street,” said Fedyk who lives on 49th Avenue close to the southern-most point of the avenue. “Last night, the rain was coming down so hard that the water flooded my driveway and garage for the fifth time this year and the hail gathered in the puddle.”
At 10 a.m. hail could still be seen in the street in front of his home and his driveway sported two to three inches of snow-like precipitation.
Meanwhile, east of town, farmers reported crop damage and accumulations of hail up to six inches beneath downspouts and in ditches.
“We noticed a buildup of hail beside the house,” Ruth Lind who farms with her husband Harvey east of town, said last Thursday. “When I get home this afternoon, I'll call the insurance company out. There was some crop damage, we just don't know how much.”
Betty Hobbs also noted that they had some crop damage but would take a closer look in the afternoon.
Innisfail insurance agencies were not bombarded with phone calls after the previous day's storm, but were expecting to receive a higher-than-normal call volume soon.
“I heard the hail last night at my place in town,” said Vicki Livingstone, owner/manager of Freeman Insurance Agencies of Innisfail. “The first thing I thought was that it was going to be busy. We are still dealing with calls from last week's storm. The hail of July 19 was busy, and I think we will start getting calls very soon on this one.”
Environment Canada had issued weather warnings for Central Alberta earlier on Aug. 6.
