Damage reported in Alberta towns after tornado-strength winds

Aug 08, 2019

Tuesday night's storms damaged crops and structures.Though it may not have produced a tornado, Tuesday night's storms did some serious damage to some rural properties in southern Alberta.

Environment Canada says a particular supercell that rolled in off the foothills in the afternoon brought large hail and very strong winds for the region.

"The combination of severe winds and large hail have led to multiple reports of crop damage and damage to farm equipment and structures from Vulcan county southeastward through the Taber/Barnwell area," a summary from the weather agency reads.

Though there is no suggestion at this time that the storm produced a tornado, Environment Canada did measure strong wind gusts near or above the 100 km/h range in several locations in the area. The strongest, a 146 km/h gust recorded at Barnwell, would be the equivalent of an EF-1 tornado.

Elsewhere, golf ball-sized hail was recorded at Taber, and loonie-sized hail at Barnwell.

Where the storm struck cropland, the damage to crops has been extensive. One farmer near Taber told Lethbridge News Now that some 90 per cent of his crop was damaged, a difficult blow given the growing season started later than average this year.

Click here to see more...

Video: How Does an Anhydrous Ammonia Applicator Work?

Border View Farms is a mid-sized family farm that sits on the Ohio-Michigan border. My name is Nathan. I make and edit all of the videos posted here. I farm with my dad, Mark and uncle, Phil. We also have a part-time employee, Brock. My dad started the farm in 1980. Since then we have grown the operation from just a couple hundred acres to over 3,000. Watch my 500th video for a history of our farm I filmed with my dad.

I started making these videos in the fall of 2019 as a way to help show what I do on a daily basis as a farmer. Agriculture is different from any other industry and I believe the more people that are showing their small piece of agriculture, helps to build our story. We face unique challenges and stressful situations but have some of the most rewarding payoffs in the end. I get to spend everyday doing what I love, raising my kids on the farm, and trying to push our farm to be better every year. I hope that I can address questions or concerns that you might have about farms and agriculture.