Northern Hail Project

@westernunhp.bsky.social

Founded in 2022 by Western University, the NHP aims to detect and document hail events across Canada and uncover Canada’s true hail climatology. See https://uwo.ca/nhp/ & cssl.ca.

**Storm Report: Just after 1 PM today, a storm affecting northern portions of London ON produced large hail, w/ one oddly shaped specimen reaching 51 mm in maximum diameter. A quick inspection of these areas, however, revealed only minor tree damage (leaf shredding) and damage to local gardens. 1/2

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**Important Announcement** This Thursday, July 16th, the Northern Hail Project (NHP), along with members of the City of Calgary led Hail Resilience Improvement Network (HRIN), will be running a special series of exhibits and demonstrations on all things #hail at the TELUS Spark Science Centre! 1/3

Three photo banner showing (left) gloved hands holding several real hailstones collected by the NHP field team, (center) two storm pursuit vehicles - white and green Ford Explorers, both with Canadian Severe Storms Laboratory Northern Hail Project decals - with Field Coordinator and intern standing in between the vehicles, (right) NHP intern explaining hail science to a young family.

NHP Field Operations - Mission Today - July 16, 2026 NHP Field Teams have deployed to areas E of Calgary today (June 16) in anticipation of the potential for damaging, wind-driven hail. #abstorm If it is safe to do so, please send us any damage/hail reports you may encounter from today's storms!

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**Important Announcement!** Today, we congratulate NHP graduate student Julia Finlayson on the successful defense of her master's thesis, entitled "Development of a Low-Cost, Novel Piezoresistive Polymer Hail Sensor" under the supervision of Drs. Gregory Kopp and Julian Brimelow. 1/2

Julia standing proudly in front of opening slide of her master's thesis defense presentation with supervisors Dr. Greg Kopp and Dr. Julian Brimelow.

*Survey Announcement* Due to the rare nature of last week's hail event, researchers from the NHP & NTP will be conducting a damage survey tomorrow (March 21) of the region S and SW of Hopeville. Please let us know if you have any damage reports or other info! #onstorm @westernuntp.bsky.social

Northern Hail Project@westernunhp.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Seeking Hail & Damage Reports #ONstorm: At around 1 am, a hailstorm tracked NE of Mount Forest (see MRMS MESH below), with reports of hail over 40 mm in diameter and some vehicle damage (cracked windshield). Investigation is ongoing. Please forward any information you may have on this event! 1/2

**Follow-Up** March 11 Hail Event #Onstorm: A review of available historical data indicates that hail reported in the Hopeville area is the *largest* on record in March for both Ontario and Canada as a whole. Imagery from this event shows hail of at least 42 mm, poss exceeding 45 mm. 1/2

Northern Hail Project@westernunhp.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Seeking Hail & Damage Reports #ONstorm: At around 1 am, a hailstorm tracked NE of Mount Forest (see MRMS MESH below), with reports of hail over 40 mm in diameter and some vehicle damage (cracked windshield). Investigation is ongoing. Please forward any information you may have on this event! 1/2

Seeking Hail & Damage Reports #ONstorm: At around 1 am, a hailstorm tracked NE of Mount Forest (see MRMS MESH below), with reports of hail over 40 mm in diameter and some vehicle damage (cracked windshield). Investigation is ongoing. Please forward any information you may have on this event! 1/2

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**Big Announcement** The first CSSL Annual Report for the 2025 storm season is out! Updates on the NHP, NTP, and NMP's activities are now all in one convenient report. 👇👇👇Please see the link in the post below 👇👇👇 @westernuntp.bsky.social @westernunmp.bsky.social @cssl.ca

Canadian Severe Storms Lab@cssl.ca · 5mo ago

The first CSSL Annual Report - covering the CSSL's inaugural full year in 2025 - is now available! Please visit uwo.ca/cssl/news.html to download a copy.

CSSL 2025 Annual Report cover spread

**Winter Hail in SW Ontario!** We have received numerous hail reports from last night's (Feb 18) thunderstorms in SW Ontario, w/ the largest est hail size from the Brigden area at ~24 mm. Hail reported in several other locations (London, St Thomas, Strathroy) was generally smaller ~5 to 10 mm. 1/3

Mike 🇨🇦@ontariowedges.bsky.social · 6mo ago

@westernunhp.bsky.social Lambton County public hail reports from our Lambton weather group Courtright: nickel size Alvinston: dime size Brigden: dime size Oil Springs: dime size Inwood: dime size Two pics are from the Courtright area showing nickels.

“Scientists-turned-storm chasers” are tracking down Alberta hail storms to better understand how to protect against them. Researchers from the Canadian Severe Storms Laboratory ( @cssl.ca ) at #WesternU spoke with the @theglobeandmail.com about the Northern Hail Project.

In Alberta’s ‘Hailstorm Alley,’ scientists-turned-storm-chasers look into the eye of the storm for answers

Researchers from Western University aim to use data from hard-hit areas to help Canada better understand – and protect against – dangerous and costly hail damage

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**Damage Survey Announcement #abstorm: Yesterday (July 27) a major hailstorm tracked from W of Twin Butte, through Cardston, E to the Shanks Lake area. An NHP damage survey team will begin data collection tomorrow. Please forward us any information you may have on this event!

Image of map showing radar estimated extent of hailstorm swath through southern Alberta, beginning west of Twin Butte and tracking east-southeast through Cardston and areas to the south, continuing further east-southeast over and past Shanks Lake. Large areas with estimates over 50 mm max diameter, with several areas west of and over Shanks Lake with estimate maximum diameters of 75 mm.

**Survey Announcement: The CSSL’s Winnipeg team is conducting a damage survey of hail impacts in the Reston area following a major storm on the evening of July 3rd with radar estimated hail larger than baseballs (see MRMS MESH below). Let us know if you have any information on this storm! #MBstorm

Radar product showing heat map with estimated maximum hailstone sizes. Swath of estimate 50 mm or larger hail from north of Redvers, Saskatchewan to southwest of Hartney, Manitoba.

**Survey Announcement: Yesterday (July 9), NHP Field Ops intercepted a damaging thunderstorm near the communities of Acme & Carbon, AB. A damage survey of the combined impacts of wind & hail in the area will be conducted later today. Let us know if you have any information on this storm! #abstorm

A field of canola flattened by the recent hail storm, with ground between destroyed plants still covered in hailstones.

The NHP has been busy preparing for field operations, both at home and abroad! For the #ICECHIP field campaign, the NHP and Western's UMS designed and built 4 platforms which collect and preserve hailstones, capture high-speed video of falling #hail, and measure hail fall speed with a small radar.

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The Northern Hail Project is now active on Bluesky! Through our new Bluesky accounts, we hope to continue to engage with experts, citizen scientists, and other stakeholders to build on our knowledge and understanding of damaging hail across Canada.