Canada's Largest Hailstone On Record Was Found In Alberta & It's Bigger Than A DVD

Alberta has seen wild hailstorms lately, with some leaving a lot of damage in their wake. On August 1, a storm brought a hailstone that broke the record for the largest ever documented in Canada.

According to Western University's Northern Hail Project (NHP), the record-breaking stone was found just outside Markerville and weighed an impressive 292.71 grams.

It also measured 123 millimetres long which is a bit bigger than the span of a DVD, which is around 120 millimetres.

The discovery of the stone broke the previous Canadian record which was found almost 50 years ago in Cedoux, Saskatchewan and weighed in at 290 grams.

The team collecting samples in Markerville didn't initially realize the record-breaking stone existed and it was bagged with other "grapefruit to softball-size" stones they had picked up. The samples are currently being stored in a freezer.

Only 22 hailstones collected around the world have weighed more than 290 grams, now including the one found in Markerville.

“Finding large hailstones like this is like hitting the jackpot so this Markerville sample joins an elite club of giant hailstones,” said NHP executive director Julian Brimelow.

“This stone will also help us refine our estimate of just how large it is possible for hail to grow," he added.

Giant hailstones are really rare and it's not yet known what conditions are needed for hailstorms to produce them, so tests will be carried out on the stones to find out more about their growth history.

While the Markerville hailstone is definitely impressive, the current record holder for the largest stone in North America fell near Vivian, South Dakota in July 2010 and it weighed an enormous 879 grams and had a maximum diameter of 203 millimetres.

While not all the hail stones in Monday's storm were as big as the one found in Markerville, they did manage to cause damage to cars.

Some vehicles in Kneehill County and Red Deer County had serious damage from the hail, with photos and videos showing smashed windscreens, sunroofs and huge dents.