Life In "Hailstorm Alley"

Yes, when you live in my part of Alberta, you live in "Hailstorm Alley". More hail falls in the area between Red Deer and Claresholm Alberta than anywhere else in the world. It occurs so often that many studies have been done, and still are being done here, particularly in the past 20 years. 

Hail in this area is also a huge factor for the insurance industry and a major contributor to approximately $5 billion in claims over the past 5 years. With damage to roofs, cars, trees and crops, it sure adds up quickly. Those numbers also mean it's worth while to the insurance industry to have a 'hail mitigation' team, with constant weather monitoring and a fleet of aircraft ready to fly into the most threatening of storms in order to 'seed' the clouds and prevent large hail from forming. 

Cost of the program runs $3 million a year but even if the process only reduces the total damage by a conservative 20%, you can see savings of $20 million and a lot less hassle for everyone involved. 

Of course, saving money on this type of claim isn't just for the benefit of the insurance industry. Keeping claims down is the key to keeping premiums down. The losses of the few involved in a claim will eventually have to be paid out from the funds of the many contributors, and as long as there is balance between the two, the cost to contributors will remain stable. 

For the hailstorm that hit my place last night, I got warned by my Alberta Emergency Alert app.,  though further investigation showed the threat as minor hail. That proved to be correct and there was no damage to anything other than a few shredded plants and leaves on the trees. Oh yeah, and a big mess of that debris to rake up when things dry out :0

Check out my next post about hail protection covers for vehicles, for those that don't have a garage or may be away from home.

This was a minor little blast with pea sized hail and the worst damage being a few shredded plants.