Significant Weather Events - Latter Half of 2018

The following will be a recap of some of the more significant weather events I covered since between June and December, 2018, as well as some of the more memorable moments I've had as a video journalist for The Weather Network.

The year featured fewer than normal severe storms, large hail, coverage of the aftermath of North America's most violent tornado in 2018, a heavy snow event in Calgary, truck-toppling winds in southern Alberta, and a beautiful waterspout off the coast of Maui to cap off the year. I also got to try grilled cheese with crickets at the Calgary Stampede, and was given a name from a Blackfoot Elder that translates to "storm chaser".

After a rather dull chase trip to the US plains, my next major chase on June 9th in eastern Alberta actually turned out to be my favourite Alberta chase of the season - which is odd, given that it was the first Alberta chase (the foothills seriously underperformed in 2018). Glen Bell and I tracked a storm from near Vegreville that had initially struggled in dry air before crossing a nice moist axis in the boreal transition to the east, blowing up into a wonderfully-sculpted supercell.

On June 14, Ryan Wunsch and I tracked a beast of a storm that rode the US border near Estevan, Saskatchewan. Having chased a section of the backroads in that area without issue previously, I felt okay with chasing the grid that day. Following a paper map book, we ended up on a road that terminated at a raging river with no bridge, despite it appearing like a legitimate road in the atlas. With the storm bearing down behind us at nearly 70km/h, backtracking meant punching the core of the beast that was chucking baseballs. Needless to say, we got whacked. 

July 10 was the next major prairies chase - also in southern Saskatchewan. Numerous tornadoes were documented that day, though none that I saw. I documented large hail and damaging winds near Val Marie and Mankota. Click here for a look.

MOAR hail.

Here is some oddly-shaped hail that fell in July near Dogpound, which formed on conical graupel embryos - apices up.

After August 2, I didn't see another flash of lightning until December 28 in Maui. It was a slow storm year on the prairies, and very smoky once again.

However, covering the Alonsa, Manitoba would prove to be one of the most memorable experiences of the year. I break that down in this post here. Check it out. 

I also visited the Beachwood Estates area of High River to see the community 5 years after the 2013 floods. It was pretty surreal to see what essentially amounted to a ghost town of abandoned luxury homes. Click here for a look inside.

Some homes were propped up on blocks to be moved. Others were destroyed on location.

I visited Waterton Park to see the burn following the previous season's Kenow Mountain wildfire, that threatened destroying the townsite. The new undergrowth was quite stunning, with purple fireweed sprouting up among the black. 

First attempt at shooting the Milky Way, on a summer night at Forgetmenot Pond. There was a grizzly on the other side that kept me slightly anxious in the dark.

My wife and I spent a week on the Big Island of Hawaii in August, and I got to tour the Leilani Estates neighbourhood with a member of the National Guard, just days after the lava river of Fissure 8 turned off. So while I didn't get to see any lava, I did witness the apocalyptic scenes of a neighbourhood covered in lava flows, whose vegetation had wilted in response to sulphur gas. We also visited South Point a day before Hurricane Lane was set to impact the Hawaiian Islands, so we saw some rather large swells pounding the coastline.  

A road vanishes under what was the lava river of Fissure 8.

Unrelated, but also memorable, was being able to sample some strange foods at the Stampede, including prairie oyster balls, cricket grilled cheese, giant squid on a stick, and charcoal ice cream. Click here for a video of the ordeal. 

Grilled cheese and crickets. If you close your eyes, they're like crispy onions.

In September, I got to go on a trip to The Weather Network's headquarters for some training. I went a little early so I could do some exploring, and visited Detroit and Point Pelee National Park. While there, I got to witness the migration of the Monarch Butterflies, that were covering leaves in the southernmost trees of mainland Canada by the thousands. Click here to see them!

Meeting my fellow video journalists from around the country!

In fall, I went to the Blackfoot Crossing museum near Bassano, AB, and met a local elder who told me some of the words and phrases in the Blackfoot language used to talk about storms. He also gave me a Blackfoot name, for which I felt highly honoured. Click here to hear his voice.

Calgary also had its snowiest ever day for the month of October on the 2nd, which was also the 7th snowiest day overall, with 32.8cm of snow falling. The storm total was 39cm, which effectively shut down the city for a day, and kicked off what would be the start of a long winter (albeit one that wasn't overly cold until February). Click here for a look at what scenes were like around the city. 

The Canadian Rockies provide many splendid scenes at all times of the year. I enjoyed taking in the golden larches of late September, as well as the opportunity to skate on a recently frozen, glass-like Johnson Lake near Banff. Pure ecstasy. Click here for video of that experience! Also, I checked out a difficult-access cave in Haffner Creek, Kootenay National Park, BC. The delicate stalagmites of ice that formed from slow dripping are quite otherworldly. Click here for a look inside!

Stalactites and stalagmites of ice. 

A strong, downslope wind event toppled trucks in southern Alberta on December 13, and again later in the month (when we were in Hawaii). Between Stavely and Fort Macleod, I think I counted 12 trucks laying the ditch. The strongest winds in this corridor are often unfortunately 100% crosswind. Click here to see a semi shaking in the wind on the side of Highway 2! 

Dec 13 near Claresholm, Alberta

I got to release a weather balloon from the Stony Plain site west of Edmonton in December while doing a story on e-waste. This of course, pleased the weather nerd in me.

Happy weather nerd.

And finally, after going almost the entire year without seeing a tornado, a waterspout formed a couple of miles off the beach of Maui while we were doing a photo shoot. We watched the entire 20-odd minute life cycle, and it was sure exciting!

A beefy waterspout harmlessly sips ocean water off Makena Beach,.