'Size of grapefruits': Vancouver Island mayor caught in extreme Alberta hailstorm
CTV
A family road trip through Alberta took a dramatic turn for the mayor of Courtenay, B.C.
Bob Wells was driving on a highway just outside Red Deer, Alta., on Monday when a severe hailstorm swept across the region.
About 70 vehicles were caught up in the storm, according to RCMP, with hail reaching the size of tennis balls — or even the "size of grapefruits," Wells said in a live video shortly after the storm.
Wells says the hailstones started off small before ramping up.
"When the hail started my kids had never seen hail, and I said, 'Oh yeah they're little pebble-sized hail and they can't hurt and you stuff," Wells told CTV News.
But then the hail grew larger and a piece about the size of a golf ball cracked the family's car windshield.
Once the windshield cracked, Wells pulled over to the side of the road, and rows of vehicles behind and in front of him followed suit. His family also covered themselves in blankets in case any windows broke.
Indeed, the vehicle's two sunroofs and a rear window shattered during the roughly 30-minute hailstorm, Wells says.
