Satellite Photos Reveal 125-Mile Scar Left by Canadian Storm Visible from Space
Satellite photos reveal how a devastating hailstorm that swept across Canada last month left a 125-mile-long “scar” visible from space.
NASA satellite imagery captured the aftermath of the severe hailstorm that struck southeast of Calgary, Alberta, on August 20. The storm caused widespread destruction as golf ball-sized hailstones battered the ground, tossing debris, damaging property, destroying crops, killing animals, uprooting trees, damaging vehicles, and downing power lines.
Alongside the hail, gusts of wind reached more than 81 miles per hour, intensifying the impact. The hail fell with such force that the damage left marks visible from space.
NASA’s Earth Observatory shared a satellite image from August 19, showing the area southeast of Calgary largely untouched, with farmland and green spaces intact. By the night of August 20, the hailstorm had swept across southern Alberta in roughly four hours, leaving a trail of destruction.
Satellite images from NASA show the most intense zone of the storm — a kind of epicentre that stretched for hundreds of miles — left behind a “hail scar” by August 24. A patchwork of green fields, crops, hay, and trees was replaced by a lighter-colored band, marking the path of the storm and the damage it caused.
The scar measures about 125 miles long and 9 miles wide and is clearly visible from space. According to NASA, hail damage like this is most noticeable to satellites in mid-to-late summer, when vegetation is fully grown and green.
Scientists at NASA’s Langley Research Center explained the significance of satellite monitoring.
“With state-of-the-art identification techniques, we can quantify severe storm distribution and frequency with an exceptional level of consistency that’s only granted by satellite measurements,” Benjamin Scarino, a research scientist at Langley, says. “Long-term satellite data records allow us to provide the reinsurance industry, project partners, and the research community with valuable insights into severe storm activity and risk.”
Earlier this month, NASA released a series of images that revealed how a melting glacier created a two-square-mile island in southeastern Alaska over the summer. The island, now known as Prow Knob, can be seen from space and was once part of a frozen landscape dominated by the Alsek Glacier.
Image credits: All photos by NASA Earth Observatory.
