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Summer may be close to being over, but storm season isn’t done yet.
A powerful supercell moved across the province Tuesday evening, producing lightning, strong winds and damaging hail, particularly in the south and in Regina.
Neighbourhoods in the northwest area of the city reported broken trees, green streets from the number of leaves that fell and holes in siding caused by the toonie-sized hail that made some backyards look like it had snowed.
— Shari L (@sharilynn_l) September 1, 2021
Many people were left spending the evening unblocking drains and catch basins and drivers faced the task of making their way through intersections that had become rivers.
“I kept saying it is the biggest hail I have seen in a few years easily and I have lived here my whole life. It was kind of crazy,” Nicholas Johnson said as he unclogged the corner of his street.
“There was stuff all over the street, trees and branches broken. I cannot imagine the damage across the city because it was kind of intense.”
It didn’t make for easy driving on the highway either, as many people had to pull over.
“Wow, holy smokes did it come out of nowhere. It was just like, boom, the skies just unleashed. You could hear the hail pounding off the side of my wife’s brand new car. You could hear the racket. I know what a jar of peanuts feels like,” Geoffrey Schmidt told 980 CJME from the side of the road.
Video courtesy of Geoff Schmidt
The storm lasted a good 10 minutes before slowly making its way out of Regina and on toward Fort Qu’Appelle and Indian Head.
“A supercell is the kind of storm that keeps itself organized and keeps going for hours and hours,” Environment Canada meteorologist Terri Lang said.
“A lot of thunderstorms sort of bubble up, they produce some heavy rains, maybe hail and strong winds and then they sort of collapse. But these supercells can keep themselves going for hours and hours so it is a particularly unique type of storm.
“You don’t see these all the time, but these are the type that produce tornadoes and produce the big hail.”