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Residents in Moose Jaw, Sask. wake up to snowy streets after early morning hail storm

A severe hail storm hit Moose Jaw, Sask., early Wednesday morning but residents and Environment Canada say the damage was not as bad as the 2016 storm that hit the city.

Video shows what looks like December snow storm after hail falls on Moose Jaw Wednesday morning

Penny Smoke · CBC News ·
Several Moose Jaw residents band together to shovel out a school bus that became stuck in the street after a hail storm. (Jocelyn Mariel )

Some people living in Moose Jaw, Sask. woke up thinking winter may have hit again — and took to the streets to shovel in their shorts. 

Moose Jaw resident Jocelyn Froehlich said the severe hail storm hit without warning after developing in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

"It was quite crazy and loud," said Froehlich.

Streets of Moose Jaw were covered in hail after the early morning storm. (Shelley Overs )

"At about 3 o'clock in the morning the weather rolled in and it lasted for about 20 to 30 minutes, and it was non-stop hail pounding our house."

Froehlich captured a video from her front door of what looks like a December snow storm.

With shovel in hand right after the storm, Froehlich was out shovelling the hail away from her home and windows.

Photos of the storm are circulating through social media.

A trail of vehicle tracks through the hail as it begins to melt in the spring sun. (Jocelyn Froehlich )

According to residents and Environment Canada, the storm cell popped up fast and hit the city with hail and strong winds.

"The highest intensity were really right over the city. With this intense thunderstorm Moose Jaw got a lot of hail," said John Paul Cragg, a meteorologist with Environment Canada who specializes in warning preparedness.

"It was fairly small hail, about pea size, but the accumulations were obviously pretty dramatic in the city itself."

Steam covers a Moose Jaw street as the hail begins to melt in the sun. (Shelley Overs )
Mounds of hail on a Moose Jaw street. (Shelley Overs)

This is not the first time the city has faced a severe hail storm. In 2016 another storm that flooded parts of the city and caused some major damage.

Hail damage from Wednesday's storm is said to be quite minimal, compared to previous years.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Penny Smoke

Journalist

Penny Smoke was born and raised in Saskatchewan. She is of Cree and Saulteax decent from the Treaty 4 area. Penny has worked as a producer with The Afternoon Edition, The Storytelling Project and is currently working with CBC Indigenous. In 2019 Penny was the recipient of the Adrienne Clarkson Diversity Award, both regionally and nationally.

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