CANADA NEWS
By Ayomikun. O | 2025-08-21 | Updated: 2026-09-19 | No Comments | 4 Mins Read
Canadian weather news — a severe thunderstorm in southern Alberta ripped through the southeast on Wednesday evening, toppling high-voltage transmission towers, downing power lines, shredding cars with hail, and forcing the RCMP to shut down stretches of Highway 36 and Highway 1 near Brooks.
By Maplestime Canada Desk | Alberta, Canada | 2025-08-21
Sources: Environment Canada, RCMP, Fortis Alberta, 511 Alberta | Last updated: 2026-09-19
Key Takeaways
- Environment Canada issued a severe thunderstorm warning just after 5 p.m. Wednesday for south-central Alberta, tracking a storm capable of producing baseball-sized hail, damaging winds and heavy rain.
- The storm struck Brooks around 5:30 p.m., downing power lines, disabling cars and closing roads; by 7 p.m., Highway 36 at Highway 1 was impassable in both directions.
- Fortis Alberta crews worked through the evening to restore power across the southern part of its service territory.
- The storm travelled more than 500 kilometres from the foothills west of High River to south of Saskatoon, buckling high-voltage transmission towers along the Highway 36 corridor with winds recorded above 110 km/h.
Environment Canada’s Warning and the Storm’s Path
Environment Canada put south-central Alberta under a severe thunderstorm warning just after 5 p.m. on Wednesday. Meteorologists were tracking a dangerous thunderstorm capable of producing baseball-sized hail, damaging winds and heavy rain. At the time of the warning, the storm was sitting west of Brooks, Alberta, and moving east.
It did not stay west of Brooks for long. The storm rolled over the town around 5:30 p.m. and kept going. Environment Canada later reported it travelled into Vulcan County and Newell County in southeastern Alberta, then pushed southeast into Cypress County toward Saskatchewan. By 9 p.m., it was already well into Saskatchewan, south of Saskatoon — a trek of more than 500 kilometres that freelance climate journalist Kyle Brittain called remarkable even by Prairie standards.
“They’re not unheard of, but to see it go this distance at this speed is quite rare,” Brittain said.
Long-travelling thunderstorms like this one are born of unstable air and strong winds, and the Prairies are one of the few places on earth that can produce them with this kind of reach. The storm began around 2:30 p.m. in the foothills west of High River, Alberta. Six and a half hours later it was tearing across Saskatchewan.
Southern Alberta Storm Damage: Downed Power Lines and Disabled Cars
The damage on the ground was immediate. RCMP said the storm brought down power lines around Brooks, closed roads and left disabled cars stranded in the area. Hail and violent wind did the bulk of the damage to vehicles, with drivers caught out in the open as the storm front arrived.
Just after 7 p.m., RCMP reported that the east and westbound lanes of Highway 36 at Highway 1 were not passable. Police asked drivers not to travel south on Highway 36 to Highway 1, also not passable, and advised anyone in the area to check 511 Alberta for updates on road closures before heading out.
Fortis Alberta said Wednesday evening that its crews were responding to a number of power outages in the southern parts of its service territory caused by the storm. Utility crews were out through the evening working to restore service as the storm moved on.
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Buckled Transmission Towers Along Highway 36
The most dramatic damage was to Alberta’s power infrastructure itself. Brittain said the storm uprooted trees and damaged high-voltage transmission towers along the Highway 36 corridor near Highway 1 — crumpling structures that are built to withstand almost anything short of a catastrophe.
Brittain said he has seen transmission towers crumpled like this from a blizzard, when accumulating heavy snow and ice overload them. But wind damage of this kind is another matter entirely.
“In order to crumple or shear off these transmission towers, you need incredibly intense winds,” he said. Winds in Wednesday’s storm were recorded at more than 110 km/h.
Saskatchewan Brace for Hail and Damaging Winds
The storm was not finished when it crossed the provincial border. Damaging winds and large hail remained a risk for communities in Saskatchewan as of Wednesday night, Brittain said, as the same system that battered Brooks and the Highway 36 corridor carried its punch eastward.
For Prairie residents, the lesson is a familiar one with an unfamiliar intensity: when Environment Canada issues a severe thunderstorm warning, take it literally. A storm that can travel 500 kilometres in an evening and shear steel transmission towers is not something you outdrive.
Maplestime will provide updates from this severe Alberta thunderstorm and its aftermath as announcements are made.
Have a tip about this storm? Email [email protected]
Have a correction? Email [email protected]
Will Alberta’s power grid hold up the next time a storm like this comes through, or are we one 110 km/h wind gust away from the lights going out across the southeast? Tell us in the comments. And share this with every Canadian watching the sky this storm season.
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