Edmonton under severe thunderstorm warning
Posted July 27, 2026 2:16 pm.
Last Updated July 27, 2026 7:06 pm.
Just as Edmonton was recovering from the damage caused by a massive storm over the weekend, a severe thunderstorm rolled into the Edmonton area Monday afternoon.
Environment Canada says the storm 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. As of 6:45 p.m., only a handful of houses remained without power.
Flooding, closures
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, submerged vehicles 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.
‘Trees on houses’
Edmontonians are urged to report broken, hanging and downed trees to 311.
There have been 341 calls since Saturday evening for storm-related tree issues.
“Saturday night we got a ton of rain in a very short amount of time, and so Monday morning we are dealing with trees on houses, and trees on various structures and getting to people as soon as we can,” said Jamieson Melnyk, operations manager at Alberta Arborists.
“We have a very large multi-stem willow that’s against someone’s house right now.”
If you have a tree that falls on your house, your property, or just in your area, Melnyk says one should deal with the hazard first, and then the insurance.
“Take pictures, do what you got to do for insurance, but first call a professional. Removing trees yourself can go sideways very quickly. Call someone with experience in rigging and climbing and knows how to use equipment correctly,” Melnyk said.
“We get a lot of calls for trees that are stone-cold dead. And dead tree wood is always more dangerous to the homeowner, more dangerous to the climber. So before it gets to that point, that’s when you want to start calling for tree work.”
Melnyk adds the amount of calls after the storm is particularly high. “We are not just getting storm damage calls, we’ve also received calls from people worried about their trees asking for an assessment or a recommendation, that’s what I have seen a notable uptick in.”
The City of Edmonton says residents with elm trees on their property should pick up and remove fallen branches immediately.
“Fallen elm wood provides habitat for the beetles that spread Dutch elm disease. Elm wood should be burned immediately, where permitted, or taken to the Edmonton Waste Management Centre for free disposal,” the city advised.
‘Geyser coming up from the ground’
Back-to-back storms proved challenging for Edmonton Christmas charity “Santa’s Anonymous.”
The charity shared dramatic video of its warehouse being flooded due to a massive water leak.
Santa’s Anonymous has been having issues with water in the building since the spring. And like a lot of Edmontonians, it was just recovering from Saturday’s storm when a new set of problems arose.
“We had what seemed to be like geyser coming up from the ground,” said Janine Foote, the group’s engagement manager. “And it’s actually the second time that it’s happened here. We had it happen on Saturday night as well. We caught it on our security camera and realized what was going on.”
The charity’s parking lot was also completely underwater, with Foote’s vehicle now stuck in it.
“I was trying to pull into the parking lot and I drowned my SUV,” she said. “So hopefully that will still start at some point. But we’re going to have to get it pushed out and dried out.”
Post Malone rained out
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.”
City officials add they will be asking the province for financial help under the hazard assistance and resilience program, with the city hoping to recoup what it says is $26 million in insurable damage.
–With files from Darcy Ropchan and Carly Robinson
