Environment Canada and climate change officials are investigating a significant severe weather event that damaged homes from Fairview to Hines Creek, Alta.
Tornado warnings and an emergency warning for Alberta were issued Friday night after a series of thunderstorms moved through northwestern Alberta after 9 p.m.
The initial alert was issued at 9:43 p.m., indicating that meteorologists were tracking a rotating storm that may have produced a tornado as the weather system moved northwest from Fairview, Alta., southeast toward Tangent and Girouxville.
All alerts canceled until 11:54 p.m
Hines Creek residents reported damaged roofs, hail the size of a ping-pong ball, some street flooding and uprooted trees.
A severe thunderstorm moved into northwestern Alberta Friday evening, causing extensive damage (Source: Sunflower & Swallow/Jennifer Shkolny).
The major wind storm knocked out power lines in the region, with ATCO Electricity saying most outages were expected to be restored by the end of Saturday.
“ATCO crews are working safely and quickly to restore power,” the utility said in a statement on social media. “Please stay away from downed power lines and structures.”
The outage affected Village of Hines Creek and the area near the ETR has been updated until 5:00 PM on July 30, 2022. Please stay away from downed power lines and structures and call our emergency outage line 1-800-668-5506 .
— ATCO Electricity (@ATCOElectric) July 30, 2022 ATCO crews are working to restore power Saturday morning to Hines Creek, Alta. (Source: Christ Tyler Maennchen).
The village of Hines Creek declared a local state of emergency as it dealt with the aftermath of Saturday’s storm.
“The community suffered significant damage,” the statement said. “We are warning residents to avoid cleaning until the risk assessment is complete. At this time, we are asking the public to refrain from driving through the community to allow crews to do their work.”
Daniel Desjardins, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, confirmed to CTV News Edmonton on Saturday that the national weather agency is investigating the intense weather event.
Significant damage was reported in the village of Haines Creek, Alta., after a storm Friday night (Source: Kevin Johnson).
“We can’t confirm anything at this stage,” Desjardins said, adding that perhaps a tornado, plow or straight-line winds caused the widespread damage in the region.
According to Desjardins, Friday’s high temperatures and humidity combined with a low pressure system moving through the area created unstable atmospheric conditions to produce strong storms.
The agency has not been presented with evidence of a tornado, Desjardins said, but investigators continue to review photos and videos of the damage, in addition to historical radar and satellite images.
Damage to a building in the Hines Creek area during a severe storm on Friday, July 29, 2022. (Source: Stephanie Kowal) Trees were uprooted during a storm in the Hines Creek area on Friday, July 29, 2022. ( (Source: Caitlin Malcolm)
“There may be signs and patterns in the damage (that are) consistent with a tornado,” she said.
Environment Canada continues to investigate the weather events and is looking for photos and videos of the damage they caused. Anyone with information is asked to contact them at 1-800-239-0484 or email abstorm@ec.gc.ca.
Hines Creek is approximately 132 kilometers north of Grande Prairie or 565 kilometers northwest of Edmonton.
Add Comment