© Jlene PelkeyA picture of a large hailstone that dropped in northwest Edmonton during Friday night's powerful storm.
Environment Canada reported hail stones larger than 100 millimetres in diameter fell around Spruce Grove while wind gusts topped 70 km/h west of Edmonton.
People shared photos and videos of the hailstorm on social media and others assessed damage to their home.
Edwin Huber has lived in Spruce Grove for nearly seven decades, but the hailstones that fell from the sky Friday night —putting multiple cracks in his windshield — are the biggest he's ever seen.
"It was coming down pretty hard and quite a bit of wind with it," he said.
"That's what took the windshield out, I think: the wind behind the boulders."
Supercell thunderstorms from north of Drayton Valley towards Spruce Grove are responsible for the size of the hail, Environment Canada meteorologist Blaine Lowry said.
He said a supercell storm has strong and persistent updrafts that keep the hail circulating in the upper level of the storm, where it can grow to sizes seen on Friday.
© Amanda WederSpruce Grove was one of the area's hit hardest by Friday's hailstorm. Alberta has already seen nearly double the hailstorms in 2019 than the province gets in a typical year
Alberta sees an average of 50 hailstorms a year, based on data collected between 1986 and 2015. Hailstorms hit the province 92 times by the end of July this year.
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