(Hail)STORM
(Hail)STORM provides unparalleled data to the team as they seek to improve knowledge of damaging hailstorms while increasing detection of hail occurrence in one of the country’s most populous areas.
Hailstorm Alley is an informal term used to describe a region in southern and central Alberta, Canada where hailstorms are particularly frequent and often cause significant damage to property. This area extends from High River in the south, through Calgary, continuing northward through Red Deer to Lacombe, and then westward to Rocky Mountain House. It is recognized as one of the most severe regions globally for hail-producing thunderstorms. While these boundaries are not exact, damaging hailstorms are common throughout much of central and southern Alberta during the summer months. Calgary, in particular, is known as the hailstorm capital of Canada. (Hail)STORM has stations focused specfiically in Calgary, but also scattered across Hailstorm Alley in order to capture the impact of these hailstorms on Canadians.
(Hail)STORM is made up of two instruments:
- An all-in-one weather station
- A disdrometer for measuring hail impacts
Details on the meteorological variables captured, along with the range, accuracy, and resolution of the instruments can be found below:
Range |
Resolution |
Accuracy |
|
Air Temperature |
–50 to 60 °C | 0.10 °C | ±0.60 °C |
Barometric Pressure |
1 to 120 kPa | 0.01 kPa | ±0.05 kPa at 25 °C |
Hailstone Classification |
15 classes from 0.5 cm to larger than 7.5 cm | 0.5 cm | ±10% |
Hailstone Strikes |
0 to 25 hits/s | 1 hit | ±10% |
Hailstone Strike Rate |
0 to 25 hits/s | 1 hit/s | ±10% |
Lightning Average Distance |
0 to 40 km | 3 km | Varies |
Lightning Strike Count |
0 to 65,535 strikes | 1 strike | Varies with distance, >25% detection at <10km typical |
Precipitation |
0 to 400 mm/h | 0.017 mm | ±5% of measurement from 0 to 50 mm/h |
Relative Humidity |
0 to 100% | 0.1% | Varies with temperature and humidity, ±1.5% typical |
Solar Radiation |
0 to 1750 W/m2 | 1 W/m2 | ±5% typical |
Vapor Pressure |
0 to 47 kPa | 0.01 kPa | Varies with temperature and humidity, ±0.2 kPa typical below 40 °C |
Wind Direction |
0 to 359° | 1° | ±5° |
Wind Gust |
0 to 30 m/s | 0.01 m/s | The greater of 0.3 m/s or 3% of measurement |
Wind Speed (Horizontal) |
0 to 30 m/s | 0.01 m/s | The greater of 0.3 m/s or 3% of measurement |
Frequency |
every 10 minutes |
