"Grapefruit-Sized" Hail Stones Smash Dozens Of Vehicles In Canada

People in Canada were left stunned after a massive hail smashed windshields and stranded travellers on Monday. According to CBC News, the hailstorm was caused after a tornado tore through Alberta, a western province in Canada. 

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) informed that the storm lasted about 10 to 15 minutes and damaged around 34 vehicles. A number of people also suffered minor injuries, and three collisions were reported as a result of the sudden baseball-sized hail stones. 

Taking to social media, several people shared images of their cars following the storm. The pictures showed damaged windshields and dented vehicles. 

Take a look below: 

Got stuck in the huge hail storm at the bottom of Antler Hill between #reddeer and #Innisfail. Thankfully it's just the vehicle that got damaged. Crazy stuff to experience though. #abstormpic.twitter.com/3hLnJDhEK7

— Matt Berry (@MattBear3135) August 2, 2022

I can't even. I panic took this without putting it in the ruler properly 😂. Tennis balls when it was NW of Markerville 17:40. They're still coming down. Stay clear. #abstormpic.twitter.com/TpGJCUD6ZM

— Mhairi (@Mahairy93) August 2, 2022

One user even shared a chilling video that showed the hail stones crashing through their car's windshields as people inside covered their heads with their hands. "last night 5km south of gasoline alley, horrible 17 minutes," the Twitter post read. 

#abstorm last night 5km south of gasoline alley, horrible 17 minutes pic.twitter.com/15HBfcB7cp

— Gibran Marquez (@GibranMarquez7) August 2, 2022

According to Newsweek, the size of the hailstones has caused concern. Julian Brimelow, the executive director of Western University's Northern Hail project, even suggested they may have broken records. He said that they received reports of "grapefruit-sized and softball-sized hail". He also added that a lot of stones were over 10 centimetres in size. 

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Moreover, the NHP Field Project also tweeted some of the hail stones that had been collected. "Recap of yesterday's mission across #ABwx for the westernuNHP," the tweet said while showing plastic bags full of hail stones.

Recap of yesterday's mission across #ABwx for the @westernuNHP:

• Documented a long-track supercell
• Collected 7 bags of baseball to grapefruit-sized hail
• Deployed 4 probes ahead of hailcores (2 with video) and all successfully hit
• Measured and bagged a 106mm hailstone pic.twitter.com/j2Fxs2uUHQ

— NHP Field Project 🇨🇦 (@NHP_field) August 2, 2022

As per the outlet, experts have warned against more intense hailstorms in the future due to climate change.