It’s a safe bet to say the water-cooler talk in Edmonton workplaces Friday was all about the big storm overnight.
Many people were woken up in the middle of the night by pounding rain, loud thunder, and a lightning show that carried on for hours.
“I’m a little tired today,” said Jackie Bondurant, who was rustled out of bed as the storm blew through.
Bondurant, who lives in the city’s southeast, said she got up at around 3 a.m. after the wind woke her up.
“I didn’t get a lot of thunder over here, it was actually my blinds that were banging against the window because it was so windy,” she said.
Now THAT was a storm!! ??<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/yegwx?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#yegwx</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/abstorm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#abstorm</a> <a href=”https://t.co/pfnkeVquG6″>pic.twitter.com/pfnkeVquG6</a>
—@Jackie_Bee16
What followed, she said, was two straight hours of watching the light show from her window.
“It just kept flashing and flashing so I thought, ‘Oh, I better get my camera out.’
“So I just used my cell phone and took video of the storm for two hours,” she said with a chuckle.
Bondurant wasn’t the only one. Many images of the storm flooded onto Twitter.
‘Shocked a lot of people’
Meteorologist Dan Kulak said Environment Canada issued a severe weather warning for Edmonton, St. Albert, Sherwood Park and surrounding areas at 1:52 a.m.
The storm dumped between 10 to 20 mm of rain across the region.
“Really it’s not an intense storm,” said Kulak. “But certainly going through an urban area, in the middle of the night with some good lightning, I think shocked a lot of people.”
While many people took to shooting photos and video of the storm, Kulak actually advises against it.
“Sitting by your window and watching lightning is certainly a beautiful and inspiring experience,” he said.
“Get away from the outside walls, get away from the metal piping, don’t use the telephone. Cordless phones are OK, cell phones are OK, they’re not going to attract lightning.”
Here’s a small sample of some of the tweets posted overnight as the storm came through.
But first, be on the lookout for more wild summer weather. As of noon Friday, Edmonton, St. Albert and Sherwood Park are under a severe thunderstorm watch.
Violently beautiful… <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/yeg?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#yeg</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/storm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#storm</a> <a href=”https://t.co/t5dPvGFQVD”>pic.twitter.com/t5dPvGFQVD</a>
—@Kristoph_errr
Saw the biggest lightning bolt earlier (not this one). Crazy storm knocked out back alley lights but not building yet. Fun! <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/yegwx?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#yegwx</a> <a href=”https://t.co/xCk5fzbYPm”>pic.twitter.com/xCk5fzbYPm</a>
—@Empress_Marsha
Felt like the paparazzi were flashing photos with all that thunder and lightening last night.. now we know how it feels to be a celebrity ? <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/yegweather?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#yegweather</a>
—@SolidBella
The storm woke me and was a magnificent hour of thunder and lightning. A veritable orchestral delight! <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/YEGstorm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#YEGstorm</a>
—@erimichhoff
Welp, <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/yeg?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#yeg</a>, I’m awake. How about you? <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/yegwx?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#yegwx</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/yegstorm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#yegstorm</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/abstorm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#abstorm</a> <a href=”https://t.co/tbcvPdljgb”>pic.twitter.com/tbcvPdljgb</a>
—@linzstam
July 13th 2018 Do u wanna relive the storm? I have uneditted footage of the lightning in my area! I got all the lightning that occured in the core as it passed over <a href=”https://t.co/82NkBBzg6N”>https://t.co/82NkBBzg6N</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/yeg?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#yeg</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/yegwx?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#yegwx</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/abstorm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#abstorm</a> (i also do makeup vids)
—@Yegstormpics
Photo from the July 13 2018 severe <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/thunderstorm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#thunderstorm</a> taken approximately 3 AM. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/ABstorm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#ABstorm</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/YEGWX?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#YEGWX</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/yeg?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#yeg</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/edmonton?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#edmonton</a> <a href=”https://t.co/4RgUENAq4B”>pic.twitter.com/4RgUENAq4B</a>
—@VE6DV