Many areas of central and west central Alberta experienced some turbulent weather Wednesday evening.

It was late afternoon on Aug. 2, 2023, when Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), issued Severe Thunderstorm Warnings and Tornado advisories for many areas in the region.

Samantha Mauti, a meteorologist with ECCC said, “The storm initiated along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and continued northeast into the Sunchild area.”

Tornado advisories were issued for the following areas:

• O’Chiese 203 Res. and Clearwater Co. near Sunchild Cree Res.
• Brazeau Co. near Brazeau Dam
• Clearwater Co. near Rocky Mtn House and Crimson Lake
• Clearwater Co. near Caroline and James River Bridge
• Yellowhead Co. near Minnow and Wolf Lakes and Elk River
• Leduc Co. near Warburg, Thorsby, and Pigeon Lake
• Leduc Co. near Calmar and Devon
• Brazeau Co. near Drayton Valley and Breton
• Co. of Wetaskiwin near Pigeon Lake
• Co. of Wetaskiwin near Alder Flats and Winfield
• Ponoka Co. near Rimbey, Bluffton and Hoadley
• Ponoka Co. near Crestomere
• Brazeau Co. near Cynthia and Lodgepole
• Yellowhead Co. near Minnow and Wolf Lakes and Elk River

Mauti says there were no confirmed touchdowns of a tornado in the areas listed.

“We definitely got several hail reports for golf ball sized hail, so in around the 4-5cm mark. Also, one report of larger then baseball sized hail,” added Mauti.

Areas that were issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning included Wolf Lake, Cynthia, Brazeau Dam, O’Chiese and Sunchild.

All warnings and advisories were cancelled before 11:00 p.m.

Mauti noted, there have been 16 tornadoes confirmed in 2023, with the average in Alberta being about 15 per year. Mauti says there were eight tornadoes in the province last year in 2022.