The thunderstorms that moved across the province yesterday brought intense lightning, high winds, and heavy rain to the Weyburn area. As the system moved more to the south and the east, however, things started to escalate, with hail coming as well for some areas.  

Scott Kienlen lives south of Midale. He said the storm reached them around 10:30 last night. 

“It started raining, and then the hail came,” Keinlen described. “Then, the hail came, and it started out about a quarter, then went to toonie, ping pong, and then got bigger, and it lasted about 10, 15 minutes, and then about another half hour later was the second storm. That’s when the real big stuff came.” 

The second wave of the storm brought hail that Keinlen described as being roughly the size of a baseball, or just a little smaller than that. The hail caused quite a bit of damage in the area, including trees, vehicles and the siding on the house.  

“It just sounded like you’re in a war,” Keinlen said. “We’re out there on the farm there, and the grain bins... it was just like ding, ding, ding, ding... really, really loud. It made your ears ring, it was coming down so hard.” 

For producers in the area, the hail will likely lead to crop damage. Keinlen said it appeared his crops appeared to have taken a beating, but he is optimistic some of it will be able to bounce back. 

“It’s pretty early to assess til you start walking in there,” Keinlen added, noting the hay crop is laying down flat. 

--with files from Lemuel Aquino/discoverestevan.com