Brief storm drenches Pincher Creek and other parts of Southern Alberta

Updated at 9:00 pm, July 17, 2013

Chris Davis, Pincher Creek Voice

A brief storm struck Pincher Creek and area at about 4:40 pm today.  It lasted about 15 and included a deluge of rain with a smattering of hail, as shown in the video below.  The storm was consistent with the weather alert issued earlier today by Environment Canada which has now ended for our region.

Carson Zabolotney was driving in Lethbridge when the storm hit there, apparently with more force than was evident in Pincher Creek.  

The 31 year old Lethbridge resident was on his way to pick up his wife Manda and 20 month old daughter Kori-Lynn who were out shopping. 

"The rain hit so hard and so fast I could barely see past the hood of the truck," said Zabolotney.  "It was like a white-out."

"I was at a crawl, with my flashers going,"

Above and below: Carson Zabolotney's hail damaged truck
C. Zabolotney photos and video

Zabolotney said he was travelling east going past Future Shop and the Brick off Mayor Magrath Drive when a piece of a 16 foot sign ripped away from it's posts and impacted the back windshield of the truck, breaking the window.

"It was so fast, it was unbelievable.  I was so thankful my little girl wasn't strapped into her seat, that`s the only good thing about this, is that my wife and daughter were safe."

"It was surreal how fast that storm came up.  I've never, ever seen rain like that.  I had to crouch in the truck.  I had three quarters of an inch of hail inside my truck on the dash before the hail stopped."  

Zabolotney said that it was less than one minute from the beginning of the storm to it turning to hail and then to his truck being hit.  He was not sure how long the whole storm lasted.  He said it happened around 6:00 pm.

"Something I wont ever forget, for sure!"

Other reports of major damage in southern Alberta are all over the social networks, including unconfirmed reports of a tornado touching down near Lethbridge.  Update:  According to CTV Lethbridge "It may have felt like a tornado but it wasn't ... although wind gusts did get up to 135-140 km/hr near the County airport."

C. Zabolotney photos and video