Edmonton under severe thunderstorm warning

A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for the Edmonton area Monday afternoon.

Environment Canada says the storms could produce damaging wind gusts, up to quarter size hail and very heavy rain.

The weather agency initially issued a thunderstorm watch for Edmonton, St. Albert and Sherwood Park at 11:30 a.m. but later upgraded it to a warning.

The storms were located from Devon to Spruce Grove and were moving northeast toward Edmonton at 30 km/h.

“Some travel delays are likely,” the alert reads. “Driving conditions will likely be difficult. Heavy rain may cause flash flooding and significant reductions to visibility.

“Take immediate cover if a thunderstorm approaches. If outside, protect yourself from flying debris and hail. When thunder roars, go indoors. Lightning kills and injures Canadians every year. Don’t drive through flooded roadways. Avoid low-lying areas.”

A number of Edmonton homes in the Holyrood, Idylwylde, and King Edward Park neighbourhoods lost power around 1 p.m., according to Epcor’s outages map. Power there was restored by 3 p.m.

Flooding, closures, downed trees

This latest storm comes two days after Edmonton was battered by a storm of torrential rain and hail on Saturday evening, leading to flooding, road closures, outages and downed trees. It was yet another downpour during the city’s wettest summer on record.

Crews were working Monday to reopen roads while clearing trees, debris and water. Yellowhead Trail, Whitemud Drive and Groat Road have all reopened.

Some road closures remain in effect: 130 Avenue and 107 Street, as well as Connors Road and 98 Avenue.

Some venues were closed: Peter Hemingway Aquatic Centre, Telus World of Science, and the Indigenous Peoples Experience at Fort Edmonton Park.

A downed tree on the tracks near Strathearn halted the Valley Line service between Holyrood and Muttart on Monday afternoon. Trains were operational between Muttart and 102 Street, and from Holyrood to Mill Woods.

A bus replacement was running between Bonnie Doon and downtown.

Saturday’s rain also led to a flood of concert and event cancellations — from a Post Malone concert at Commonwealth Stadium to KDays.

According to Environment Canada, nearly 30 millimetres of rain fell between 9-10 p.m. Saturday in the Blatchford area. During that time, wind speeds averaged nearly 40 km/h, and the maximum wind speed was 84 km/h.

The “Postie” concert was officially cancelled due to damage to the stage, seating and production, the city said. Concert-goers were asked to shelter-in-place inside the stadium. No injuries were reported.

“The safety of fans, staff, crew and artists is of utmost importance,” the city said in a news release Monday. “Staff used stadium audio messaging and the jumbotron screen to ask attendees to leave their seats and move into sheltered areas of the stadium. The concourse can accommodate the 31,000 fans who were at the concert.

“The gates were also opened for fans who chose to leave the venue. All stadium emergency protocols were followed.”

Full refunds were granted to ticketholders, the city adds.

The City of Edmonton has received 511 millimetres of rain over June and July. The typical monthly average in summer is between 70 and 80 millimetres.

“The vast majority of the City of Edmonton’s infrastructure has withstood this summer’s record-breaking rainfall,” the city said. “Permanent drainage infrastructure currently being built across major projects will protect key corridors against 1-in-100-year storm events once complete.

“EPCOR is rolling out a 20-year, $1.6-billion flood mitigation plan to strengthen Edmonton’s resilience to future flooding.”