Calgary hailstorm of August 5, 2024

What happened

On August 5, 2024, severe thunderstorms developed over southern Alberta and moved east, producing damaging hail, strong winds, heavy rain and localized flooding in parts of Calgary. Environment and Climate Change Canada received multiple reports of hailstones the size of chicken eggs damaging homes and vehicles. (Insurance Bureau of Canada, September 11, 2024)

Environment and Climate Change Canada describes two intense, rotating thunderstorms that formed along the southern Alberta foothills that evening and moved southeast toward Calgary. The northern storm battered thousands of homes and vehicles across the city’s northern suburbs; the southern one dropped baseball-sized hail on rural land southeast of the city. (Environment and Climate Change Canada)

The storm hit mainly the northern parts of the city. It led to more than 130,000 insurance claims, more than half of them for vehicles, and roughly half of the damaged vehicles were written off as total losses. Nearly 60,000 homes in the Calgary area were affected. (Insurance Bureau of Canada, February 11, 2025)

The Insurance Bureau of Canada calls it the costliest hailstorm, and the second-costliest natural disaster, in Canadian history, after the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire. (Insurance Bureau of Canada, September 11, 2024; Insurance Bureau of Canada, August 14, 2025)

nearly $2.8 billion

In insured damage, CatIQ’s initial estimate. Insurance Bureau of Canada, September 11, 2024.

$3.25 billion

In insured damage, CatIQ’s revised estimate. Insurance Bureau of Canada, February 11, 2025.

more than 130,000

Insurance claims. Insurance Bureau of Canada, February 11, 2025.

nearly $1 billion

In insured damage to vehicles. Insurance Bureau of Canada, February 11, 2025.

If hail damaged your car

1. Stay safe, then photograph the damage. Document it before anything is repaired; the Insurance Bureau of Canada says photos help.
2. Call your insurer. Hail is claimed under comprehensive, specified perils or all perils coverage, not collision, and you choose the body shop, unless your insurer elects to repair it.
3. Ask whether paintless dent repair will do. It suits small to moderate dents where the paint is intact.
4. Expect a queue. After the 2024 storm, shops were swamped and one hail repair company expected repairs to run into the next year.

The full guide to hail damage claims and repair in Calgary covers each step, with its sources.