Environment Canada issues severe thunderstorm warning for south central Alberta

Environment Canada issued a severe thunderstorm warning late Monday afternoon for areas in and around Sundre, Olds, Didsbury, Rocky Mountain House and Caroline, Alta.

The national weather agency said strong gusts of wind, hail the size of baseballs or larger and heavy rain were possible.

The alert went out at 5:20 p.m.

"This thunderstorm is located 5 km north of James River Bridge and is moving 30 km/h to the east-southeast," the alert said.

"This is a dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation. Extremely large hail can smash windows, destroy property and vehicles and cause life-threatening injury.

"Take cover immediately, if threatening weather approaches."

The alert was later lifted.

The Northern Hail Project collected and analyzed hail in the region, confirming it was up to 78 millimetres in size.

There were a number of watches and warnings Monday for central and southern Alberta.

Environment Canada said thunderstorms would continue to develop and track east through central Alberta Monday night.