If you live in Alberta you will likely have had en experience with hail at some point in time throughout one of our Summers! That big, super black cloud approaches and then the familiar clack clack clack as the ice pellets start to shower down. Well, at least they generally tend to be ice pellets only and you can be thankful for that, as we all know how bad the outcome is when they aren't that small. Dented vehicles, damaged shingles on the house, holes in vinyl siding, shredded gardens and crops.
Alberta is now known as the world capital for destructive hail, causing widespread home, auto and crop damage, particularly in an area that runs from the foothills east and from Rocky Mountain House down to High River.
Starting as far back as 1956, there have been numerous projects dedicated to mitigating hail damage and today's modern technology is now guided by The Alberta Severe Weather Management System, a 3.1 million dollar enterprise fully funded by the insurance industry.
Though results are not 100% guaranteed, since you can't get them all, even a 20% reduction in damages amounts to a savings of hundreds of millions of dollars and a lot less grief all around! Alberta suffers about 1 billion dollars in damage by hail every year, so cloud seeding was introduced as a way of suppressing that damage.
Basically, the idea is to introduce a particulate, Silver Iodite, into a storm cloud that shows the potential for hail stones. The particulate attracts the moisture and starts to form millions of little hailstones, with the emphasis on little! Many small hailstones means less larger ones, like the kind that cause all the damage.
Being on call 24/7 for the 4 months of hail season, a crew of meteorologists on the ground, and pilots at the controls of 5 planes means the ASWMS is always ready to track any possible hail storm and take action when the threat is imminent.
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| We stopped to stretch our legs at the park in Olds and checked out the set up for the horseshoe pits |
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| The Cow Palace eh? Hmmm... |
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| The Dominion's Laura Bock invited Blue Circle's Sarah, left, and Stewart. |
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| Project Direct , Terry Krauss, led the seminar. |
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| 2012 storms, as tracked by ASWMS |
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| We met the meteorologists and pilots |
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| The dark blue bars are Alberta hail storm damages ranked against other Canadian disasters. |
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| Sarah holds plaster replicas of actual hailstones, including Alberta's largest on the right. |
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| Storm tracking with Brad Waller, head meteorologist. |
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| The airports unofficial mascot just wants to play! |
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| The daily report |
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| Out on the tarmac |
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| Pilot, Andeas, shows us the wing flare system... |
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| ...and the belly flares which are ejected after ignition. |
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| Co-pilot for a few minutes |
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| Red Leader, this is White Flag...I have you low and to the east, in the north-east quadrant of the target area......over. |
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| Thumbs up for a great day! |
