Calgary hail map: every major hailstorm since 2014, by community

Circles are approximate damage footprints drawn from published reports, not official storm tracks. Darker red = billion-dollar events. Zoom out for Red Deer, Brooks and Claresholm. Tap a circle for communities hit, hail size, insured loss and the source. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Why Calgary gets hit so often

Calgary sits in the middle of what insurers call Hailstorm Alley — a corridor that runs from High River north through Calgary and Airdrie to Red Deer (IBC). The mechanism is the mountains: our elevation keeps moist air trapped at low levels while very cold, dry air pours off the Rockies above it. That contrast builds the tall, violent updrafts that grow hailstones, and Environment Canada says stones here can reach grapefruit size and hit the ground at 130 km/h (IBC).

The pattern is consistent enough to plan around. Storms build over the foothills in the late afternoon and sweep east or southeast across the city in the evening — the August 5, 2024 storm formed west of Cochrane around 5:15 pm and crossed Calgary between 7:45 and 8:30 pm (Western University, Northern Hail Project). The corridor sees more than 40 hailstorms in a typical summer (CBC), and every major Calgary event in the table below fell between June 13 and August 23.

The scale is hard to overstate. Alberta has had at least one major hailstorm every year for two decades, totalling more than $10 billion in insured damage, with roughly $6 billion of that in the last five years (IBC). About three-quarters of all Canadian hail claims over the last decade came from Alberta (CBC). The August 2024 storm alone produced $3.29 billion in claims — in just over an hour — making it the costliest hailstorm in Canadian history and the second-costliest insured disaster of any kind after the 2016 Fort McMurray fire (CatIQ via Artemis, IBC).

Major hailstorms, 2014–2026

Loss figures are CatIQ estimates published by the Insurance Bureau of Canada unless noted. The 2026 events are recent enough that insured-loss totals have not been released.

Community-by-community exposure

This is the part homeowners actually ask about: has my neighbourhood been hit, and how many times? The list below is built from the events above. "Highest" means two or more major events since 2014; "High" means one billion-dollar-class event or repeated regional strikes.

One consequence worth knowing about: after the 2024 storm, homeowners in the NE communities reported hail deductibles jumping from $2,500 to $10,000, premium increases around 35 percent, and some insurers declining new policies in the T3J and T3N postal codes (LiveWire Calgary). That makes the choice of shingle at your next replacement a financial decision, not just a cosmetic one — see the Class 4 note below.

What the cloud-seeding planes do (and don't do)

Alberta's insurers fund the Alberta Hail Suppression Project — about $5 million a year, five aircraft based at Springbank and Red Deer, flying June 1 to September 15 (Globe and Mail). The planes fire silver-iodide flares into updrafts 20 to 30 minutes before a cell reaches a populated area so more, smaller stones form instead of fewer giant ones. It helps at the margins; it does not stop storms. On June 13, 2020 the aircraft were positioned near Okotoks while the storm exploded over southeast Calgary instead, and one plane was hit by lightning (CBC). Plan your roof for the storm that gets through.

What to do the day after a storm

The one upgrade that changes the math: Class 4 shingles

If your roof is on the list above, the next replacement should be a UL 2218 Class 4 impact-rated asphalt shingle. We install Malarkey Vista, a Class 4 rubberized-asphalt shingle built for exactly this climate. Several Alberta insurers offer a discount for a Class 4 roof — ask your broker before you sign a quote, because the discount can offset a meaningful share of the upgrade over the life of the roof. Details on the roof replacement page and in our 2026 Calgary roof cost guide.

If your roof was hit and you are not sure, book the free inspection. We serve Calgary, Airdrie, Cochrane, Chestermere, Okotoks, Strathmore, High River, Bragg Creek, Claresholm, Brooks and Red Deer. Related: hail damage and insurance work, how a Calgary hail claim actually works, roof repair.

Frequently asked questions