Edmonton gets wake-up call with early morning thunderstorm

The sun came out eventually, but Edmontonians started their Tuesday morning with a thunderstorm, and some got a louder wake-up call this morning than others, as lightning struck close to home.

“I was getting ready to just go to work, and there had been some more ordinary thunder and lightning, and then out of the blue there was this massive crack and boom. And there were just these huge blue sparks flying off something across the street,” explained Audric Moses.

Moses says lightning struck a tree near his house in southwest Edmonton, and oddly enough this is the second time it’s happened.

“It’s good the trees were there as a trap so these didn’t hit our house.”

Moses and his family weren’t the only ones with lightning in the backyard. Edmonton Fire Rescue Services confirmed to CityNews that fire crews responded to a lightning strike at a home in west Edmonton just before 8:30 this morning. Saying there was some charring but no fire and no injuries.

If you think an early morning thunderstorm is a weird way to start the day, meteorologists with Environment and Climate Change Canada say you’re right.

“Thunderstorms are a lot more common during the afternoon and evening hours, it might be a five to ten-fold difference between the afternoon evening hours compared to the morning,” said Stephen Berg, meteorologist.

Explaining when warm air and moisture sit under cool dry air, that’s the perfect recipe for storms. Adding that instability means Edmonton and Alberta could see more thunderstorms this week.