Several areas across central Alberta hit hard by severe thunderstorm

Environment Canada has once again issued a severe thunderstorm watch for parts of central Alberta.

While the watch has ended for the greater Edmonton area, it is still in effect for areas west and south of the Capital region.

On Saturday evening, a storg storm swept through the areas under a watch, delivering heavy downpours of rain, strong winds, and even, at times, large hail.

In Camrose, the severe weather forced the Big Valley Jamboree to be shut down early. The same thing happened to the Heritage Days Festival at Edmonton's Hawrelak Park.

Meanwhile, EPCOR crews in the city had to deal with power outages that affected areas between 25th to 50th Streets and 76th to 95th Avenues.

Outside the city, Strathcona County RCMP say powerlines were damaged on Highway 15 between Township Roads 215-220, affecting hundreds of residents.

The Scotford Hutterite near Fort Saskatchewan suffered extensive damage, including the roof of a new milk barn being torn off. The milk barn had just started operating this past Monday.

The roof damage is pegged at about $1 million. Another barn nearby also had its roof torn off, and a silo was damaged. The total amount of damage at the colony is estimated at $3 million.

The roof of a high school in Onoway was partly ripped off.

While in Whitecourt, the Lions campground felt the brunt of the storm, as well, as trees were knocked down onto cars and trailers. Many thought it was the work of a tornado, however, Environment Canada did not believe that to be the case.

They said the majority of the damage was likely been caused by strong wind gusts, some of which were traveling at speeds of around 100 km/hr.

Environment Canada also said clouds are high, which lessened the chance of a tornado touching down.

Meteorologists were warning people to monitor weather conditions and take necessary safety precautions.

Environment Canada explained that the thunderstorm activity was being caused by a cold front that was sweeping through the area and interacting with an unstable air mass.

The difference between a weather watch and a warning is that the former indicates that conditions are favourable for a storm, while the latter happens when the path and strength of a storm system becomes more certain.

With files from Postmedia News