High winds whip through Calgary, severe thunderstorm warnings issued for central Alberta

A sudden windstorm blew through Calgary on Friday, toppling trees and power lines and sending glass raining from a highrisebuilding in the Victoria Park neighbourhood.

A wind warning was issued for Calgary and surrounding areas at about 8 p.m. by Environment Canada, while severe thunderstorm warnings and tornado watches were issued forcentral and eastern parts of the province.

The warning said windsup to 100 km/hr hadbeen reported.

Enmax said on social media its crews were dealing with multiple outages across Calgary.

Calgary Fire Department responded to more than a dozen calls of trees and power lines being blown down across the city. Glass also fell from the 39th storey of a residential tower in the 1100 block of Third Street S.E., across from Cowboys Casino, near the Stampede grounds.

Police cordoned off the area and no injuries were reported, said Batt. Chief Alistair Robin.

Severe thunderstorm warnings wereissued for parts of central and eastern Alberta, which were later downgraded.

"A cold front moving through Alberta this evening is triggering thunderstorms. Thunderstorms will continue to move to the east and southeast into the evening," read the warning.

A tornado watch was also in place for a short time intheAirdrie,Cochrane, Olds andSundreareas.

"This is a dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation," read the warning.

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