I live in an area that is known as hailstorm alley. That is we get a higher than average number of hailstorms in a summer.
Thunder storms come off the Rockies and hail is formed along the way so that by the time it gets to a rough line between Calgary and Red Deer , hail has formed in the cloud.
Hail damage is so severe in this area that hail suppression projects have been developed. Airplanes fly into the tops of the storms before the get too big and spread silver iodide into the tops of the clouds at a rate of 10 grams per minute and dangerous hail doesn't form quite so often. Hail insurance companies pay for this project as it prevents some of the huge losses that insurance companies have to pay because of hail damage.
This afternoon when I was out I saw a number of thunderstorms form. I also heard the airplanes flying from the top of one cloud to the top of the other. The planes and pilots are suited for flying on top of thunderstorms. You hear airplanes but don't see them except for today as I saw them.
So this afternoon I watched thunderstorms form. It was difficult to photograph and it was very bright. I did get some cloud photos.
Now I did get a couple of aircraft photos. This is the first time I've ever seen the planes.
So no cropping on these photos. These shots were taken blind . I just pointed and hoped I'd get something.
We've had a very interesting summer as far as weather is concerned. We've had two wind storms that did major damage. It's been dry and it's been hot. Oh yes, did I tell you we had damaging hail about 10 days ago?
Today was a hot muggy (25 C) ( 80 F) day. About 3:00PM there were shower clouds forming in the west. There was a thunder storm warning. The clouds developed and there was lots of thunder by 5:00PM.
I stayed outside to watch the thunder and lightning. I came in the house and foolishly predicted that I didn't think we'd get any rain.
Well, it did rain. 8/10 of an inch in 30 min. But there was hail and lots of hail. Most of it was marble size. As you can see my garden is trashed. Some of it will come back.
We have a storm sewer problem and the water backs up in our street. Terry Willoughby , my neighbor, has supplied photos or the truth is I stole them from Terry!!! Don't tell him.
My house is on the left.
My house is the brick house on the right. The storm sewer cannot handle the volume of water so it backs up and forms a lake. So you see I have a lake front house! Almost a house in the lake.
