Research team descends on Alberta to track frequency, severity of hailstorms

A group of Western University students are camping out in rural Alberta to collect hail data in hopes of developing the first major hail study in the province since the 1980s.

Southern Alberta is known for its destructive hailstorms, but the group is predicting that the Edmonton region could also see more storms in the next few years.

Julian Brimelow, the executive director of the Northern Hail Project, has 12 crew members for the program running from June to August this year.

Based out of Olds, Alta. — which sits between Red Deer and Airdrie — the group employs innovative technology to help track hailstorms in the province. Brimelow says the goal of this project is to establish the most accurate data on storms in the province. 

"We decided it was time to study hail in Canada because it's becoming … an increasingly big problem," he said. "It's a growing problem and it's something we really wanted to better understand."

Alberta is one of the areas in Canada that are most prone to severe hailstorms, especially in the south, and is home to what experts call hailstorm alley.

Alberta needs more hailstorm research

The region is more elevated as compared to the Edmonton area, meaning that the freezing level is lower to the ground. As a result, the storm has a deeper portion of sub-freezing temperatures, so these areas will have a higher likelihood of hail formation. 

Alberta has not had any critical hail research studies since 1984, the year that the Alberta Hail Project ended. The study lasted nearly 30 years and looked at hail physics and dynamics, information that was later used in efforts to suppress hailstorms.

But as hailstorms get worse, especially in southern Alberta, Brimelow said it's important to establish a study dedicated to the issue.

"What we're trying to understand is why these storms are developing where they are, what's driving them," he said. "Then we hope to develop, for example, a climatology of hail across Canada, which we don't have right now."

So far, the team has developed drones and weather stations which can track weather conditions, and hail pads to measure stone impacts.

The group is made up of three teams. One team operates the drones, another assesses stones they collect and freeze from storms, and another team forensically assesses the damage left behind by the hail. 

John Hanesiak, an atmospheric science professor at the University of Manitoba offered his research on hail and other severe storms for the Northern Hail Project.

He said hailstorms generally are poorly reported, especially in Alberta.

"Hail is a fairly localized phenomenon," he said. "If there's nobody there to either see it or people just tend not to report it, then it's rare for us to know exactly what happened." 

For now, researchers have typically relied on weather radars to predict where and when hailstorms crop up. But it's not a foolproof method.

By developing better research and technology with the Northern Hail Project, Hanesiak said meteorologists will be better equipped to send out more accurate weather warnings. 

Edmonton to see more hailstorms in the future

This will be necessary, as Hanesiak predicts that the Edmonton region, which is not usually known for having hail, might see an increase in hailstorms and other related weather events. Unlike most of Canada and the U.S., which would expect more severe hailstorms but with less frequency, Alberta stands alone in that they will see more severe and more frequent hailstorms, he said.

As temperatures get hotter more frequently, that will allow the atmosphere to hold more moisture, which makes storms more intense. 

"We'll expect to see more frequent and potentially more damaging hailstorms in Alberta in the future."

Rick Barr is a farmer just 30 minutes outside Edmonton. He runs a winery with the fruits that he farms.

In recent years, he's noticed that the weather has become more and more unpredictable. Intense storms that occur more frequently could threaten his business.

"Especially if the fruits have already started on the plants, the hail won't necessarily kill the plants, but knock all the fruit off," he said. "We've had years where we've lost a lot of raspberries just from the hail knocking it on the ground and then it's pretty much wasted."

While he is interested in the Northern Hail Project and what he could do with the data when it comes out, he recognizes that there's no way to avoid the severe weather issues that are predicted.

Even then, he'll still continue to farm his berries.

"Even with the best of knowledge, I don't think there's anything that we could do to avoid hail other than move," he said. "But we're here. It is what it is. Mother Nature does what Mother Nature does."