Grande Prairie flood latest in Alberta's Soggy Summer

Wednesday, August 3, 2016, 11:38 AM - A potent summer storm left streets and basements under water in Grande Prairie, Alta., on Tuesday.

The sudden deluge prompted the Grande Prairie Regional Emergency Partnership to issue a high water level alert for part of the night as rushing waters made streets impassable.

At 9 p.m. local time, GP Transit temporarily suspended services due to "severe weather and flooding".

In a statement issued roughly half an hour later, the Grande Prairie Regional Emergency Partnership (GPREP) reported that first responders had received numerous calls for service, and advised residents to use caution in flooded areas.

The Grande Prairie airport reported 9.2 mm of precipitation for August 2, most of which fell in only a 2 hour period.

Global News reported the local hospital was affected by the flooding, but services and patient care were not impacted.

GPREP ended the high water alert later in the evening, as water levels started to recede.

While - thankfully - not everyone is dealing with flash flooding, wet weather has been tenacious in Alberta this summer.

Calgary received 206 mm of rain in July; that's more than the last 4 Julys combined. In fact, it's more than the city has seen for the month of July since 1927, according to Environment Canada's senior climatologist David Phillips. The July climate normal for the city is 65.5 mm.

Calgary wasn't the only city to see a soggy July. Edmonton, Red Deer, and Lethbridge all reported above average precipitation for the month.

The active weather pattern is keeping one group extra busy this summer.

The Calgary Herald reports Alberta's team of hail-fighting pilots - contracted by The Alberta Severe Weather Management Society - are having one of their busiest summers ever, taking on an average of three storms per day.

The project seeks to seed storm clouds to reduce the damage threat from hail, releasing silver iodide into growing storm clouds to provide more nuclei for ice crystals to grow around. Since the water available to condense in the cloud is then spread over more total surface area, you get a larger number of hailstones, but they're smaller and, ideally, less damaging.

Project director Terry Knauss told the Herald radar imaging shows that the cloud seeding process the group uses is effective at diminishing the intensity of the storms. The teams's five planes have seeded 69 storms so far this summer.

Sources: CBC News | CTV News | GPREP | Global News | Calgary Herald |