The sky turned a bruised purple just before eight o’clock on a Monday evening. Alarms blared across the city as an emergency alert flashed on every phone warning of torrential rain and falling ice.
Most of us looked up at the gathering dark clouds and thought it was just another typical summer storm rolling off the foothills. But the Calgary climate loves to prove us wrong.
Within half an hour the sky opened up and dropped ice the size of baseballs onto our homes and cars. That single evening of severe weather would leave a mark on our city that will take years to erase.
Shattered Glass and Flooded Terminals
Environment and Climate Change Canada characterized the terrifying event as a supercell. Anyone who was caught driving down the highway during the deluge just called it an absolute nightmare.
The storm unleashed intense winds and up to fifteen millimetres of rain alongside the relentless massive hail.
The Calgary International Airport terminal took a brutal direct hit from the system. Roof panels came crashing down while heavy water pooled across the floor. Travelers hurriedly evacuated gates to stay safe while emergency alarms echoed through the entire building.
The structural damage was so extensive that the airport authority closed ten gates in Concourse B for eighteen long months just to complete the necessary repairs.
Even commercial airplanes were not spared from the onslaught. Over a dozen WestJet planes sat vulnerable on the tarmac taking a vicious beating from ice the size of hen eggs. They all required extensive safety inspections before they could fly again.
A Two Billion Dollar Bill
The morning after revealed a city completely shredded by falling ice. Widespread roof damage and smashed car windshields lined almost every single street in the northern communities.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada released the staggering official numbers shortly after the clouds cleared. The storm caused an unbelievable 2.8 billion dollars in insured losses.
It officially became the second most expensive event in Canadian history sitting just behind the devastating 2016 Fort McMurray Wildfire. Aaron Sutherland from the Insurance Bureau called it an absolute wake up call for the province.
Nearly one in five homes in Calgary was impacted by the vicious storm leaving over one hundred and thirty thousand claims in its wake.
Residents found themselves entirely overwhelmed trying to fix their destroyed siding and replace vehicles that were completely written off by insurers.
The sheer volume of destruction places an incredible strain on homes and businesses across the entire region. Severe weather events cost insurers over 3.6 billion dollars in Alberta this summer alone when you add in the Jasper wildfire.
Learning from the Wreckage
Researchers from the Northern Hail Project spent five days closely interviewing locals and studying the incredible damage. Executive director Julian Brimelow noted that his team was entirely taken aback by the sheer financial scale of the wreckage.
They want to understand how we can better prepare for these massive Calgary weather changes.
The conversation is rapidly shifting toward building a much stronger city. Experts are pleading for the adoption of better building codes that incorporate completely hail resistant siding and roofing in high risk areas.
They point to initiatives like the municipal Resilient Roofing Rebate Program that Calgary adopted back in June 2021 as a crucial step forward.
There is also a strong push for improved alerting systems that urge people to park their cars safely and stay indoors before the worst hits. As these storms increase in frequency we have to adapt our homes to withstand the absolute worst the sky can throw at us.
Summer Chaos to Winter Chills
After all living in Calgary winter prepares you for a certain level of daily unpredictability. We know to keep a snow brush in the trunk until June just in case. We know exactly how to dress in three different layers before grabbing a morning coffee.
We can easily explain what is a Chinook wind to newcomers and show them how it can magically melt a foot of heavy snow in a single sunny afternoon.
But nothing truly prepares you for massive chunks of jagged ice falling from a warm August sky.
The sheer unpredictability of our unique local seasons keeps us constantly on our toes. You can complain about the freezing Calgary winter weather all you want but at least the gentle snow falls softly. Summer storms always seem to arrive with a brutal vengeance.
Watching the Horizon
We sweep up the shattered window glass and we wait patiently for the local roofers to arrive. We swap crazy survival stories with our neighbors about exactly where we were when the sky literally fell.
This city builds a deep resilience into our bones because we simply have no other choice.
We complain about the premium hikes and we rebuild our shattered fences and we always watch the horizon. We secretly love the wildness of it all.
