Central Alberta was hit with heavy winds, thunderstorms, and eventually hail that caused damage to area homes July 13 and Bashaw was no exception.
A swath of hail was large enough that residents reported golf-ball sized hail that caused damage to car windshields, siding on homes, and gardens. Some trailers were hit hard with hail damage on many of them.
For the Ponoka area, a large amount of hail affected Crestomere and more, which appeared to have affected mostly the north side of Highway 53.
Crops were also affected by the hail, with whole fields of canola and barley flattened. Several area farmers reported the damage was enough that they are putting in insurance claims.
Reports from Ponoka News and Bashaw Star readers on Facebook stated there was heavy hail along the Menaik Road plus north and west of Bashaw.
Several residents posted videos of the event, which showed heavy winds and large hail, which caused quite a bit of damage.
Later in the evening, the large storm cell rolled through Stettler bringing with it thunder, lightning, heavy rain and large hail.
There are no reports yet on how much damage the hail caused, however, on social media, users were posting photos of the damage.
Environment Canada issued a tornado watch shortly after 2 p.m. Friday for Stettler, Ponoka, Red Deer and Innisfail area, which was eventually ended later in the evening.
