Several communities in west-central Alberta are being told to brace for “dangerous” thunderstorms on Wednesday afternoon.
Environment Canada has issued severe weather alerts for the communities of Hinton, Grande Cache, Rocky Mountain House, Whitecourt, Edson, Fox Creek and Swan Hills.
The severe thunderstorm watch says atmospheric conditions are ripe for the development of dangerous thunderstorms capable of producing damaging wind gusts, damaging hail, lightning strikes and torrential rain.
Wind gusts of up to 100 kilometres per hour are possible.
Environment Canada is also warning of possible of property damage and treacherous driving conditions.
“The main threats with these storms are hail and strong wind gusts,” reads the statement from Environment Canada. “Very large hail can damage property, break windows, dent vehicles and cause serious injury.
“Very strong wind gusts can damage buildings, down trees and blow large vehicles off the road.”
Albertans are encouraged to monitor alerts and forecasts issued by Environment Canada. To report severe weather, send an email to ec.storm.ec@canada.ca or tweet reports using #ABStorm.