After being hailed out four times in the past 21 years, Charles Stevens of Wilmot Orchards in Newcastle, Ont., east of Toronto, decided to bring in the heavy artillery to protect his investment.
“If I get hit by hail, I’m wiped out,” he said.
“I do everything possible to reduce risk to my crops.”
Enter the “hail cannon.” Fueled by acetylene gas, a 5.5 metre barrel with a 79 centimetre opening fires a vertical shotgun-like blast with 1,800 kilograms of thrust.
To be effective, the system must be started 15-30 minutes before a hail storm arrives.
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The explosive force creates a vacuum, sucking in air from a valve at the bottom of the gun, directing it up through the barrel as an ionized, supersonic shock wave travelling as high as 15,000 m, disrupting hail formation in the clouds.
As shots are fired every five to six seconds, shock waves spread to cover one kilometre in diameter above the generator, protecting up to 200 acres.
Stevens bought his $50,000 weather weapon from Hail Banger Inc. in Deerfield, Michigan, the first such installation in Ontario. There is at least one Canadian manufacturer of a similar system, Hail Shield Inc. of Montreal (www.hailshield.com).
The systems are touted as also being useful to protect greenhouses, vineyards, tobacco and vegetable crops.
It is a noisy form of protection.
“It sounds just like a cannon going off,” said Stevens.
A warning buzzer sounds at the site before firing so nearby workers can cover their ears.
Stevens consulted his bylaw officer and neighbors in advance so they wouldn’t be surprised by the booms.
He has used his hail cannon five times this year and hasn’t been hit by hail yet.
The system can be triggered remotely by telephone or pager. Stevens even activated it once from a restaurant in Toronto using his cell phone, in response to storm warnings.
“This is a management tool but it’s only as good as the operator.”
