Under a solid roof, as early as you can get there. Best is an underground parkade or a covered level of a multi-level one, then your own garage, then a carport or other covered structure, then a strapped-down hail cover, and last, open parking. Whatever you choose, get there before the storm. Never drive into it.
The short answer: the ranking
When a hail warning lands for your part of Calgary, work down this list, best first.
- Underground parkade, or a covered level of a multi-level parkade. A full roof, usually walls, and no hail reaching the car. Not the top deck.
- Your own garage. As good as a parkade, if the car actually fits in it.
- A carport or other covered structure. A roof overhead, open sides.
- A hail cover, strapped down on a clean car. Damage reduction, not protection.
- Nothing. Open parking, ideally away from trees.
Two rules sit above the whole list:
- Go early. The best spot is the one you reach before the first stone falls.
- Never drive into the storm to reach shelter. If the storm is already between you and the parkade, stay where you are.
The stakes are real. IBC put insured damage from the August 5, 2024 Calgary storm at about $2.8 billion initially, later revised to roughly $3.3 billion. It also reports that roughly half of the vehicles damaged in that storm were total losses paid out in cash rather than repaired. Where your car sits for those few minutes matters.
Parkades: the best option, with conditions
An underground parkade is the closest thing to a sure bet. The car sits under concrete, out of the wind, with nothing falling on it. A multi-level parkade is nearly as good, with one big catch: the top deck is open sky. Park on a covered level or you have gained nothing.
A few things to sort out before you need them:
- Know where they are. Find the nearest covered parking to home and to work now, in calm weather, so a warning turns into a quick decision instead of a search.
- Check clearance. Tall trucks, vans, roof racks and roof boxes do not fit every entrance.
- Check the rules and the cost. Some parkades close overnight, need a permit, or charge by the hour. Find out before you leave the car there through an evening storm.
- Go early. On a warning afternoon you will not be the only driver with this idea.
- Park properly. Do not block ramps, lanes or exits to squeeze in. A blocked fire lane is a bigger problem than a dent.
If a parkade is not practical, the next best roof might be your own.
Your garage: only if the car fits in it
A home garage is every bit as good as a parkade, with one condition that is easy to forget: the car has to be in it.
If yours is full of bikes, boxes and the lawnmower, the time to fix that is before the season, not during a warning. Clear enough space for the car you most want to protect. If you have two vehicles and room for one, decide in advance which one goes in.
Check the door too. If your garage door opener runs on power, learn how to open the door by hand, so a power cut does not lock the car out.
No garage, or no room in it? Look for a roof that is at least partly there.
Carports and covered structures
A carport or similar covered structure keeps hail off the roof, hood and trunk, the panels that face the sky. The open sides are the weak point. If wind is driving the hail at an angle, doors, fenders and side glass can still take hits.
It is still a strong third place. Two cautions:
- Only use structures you are allowed to park under. Pulling in under someone else's roof and blocking their access is not a plan.
- Look up. A light structure with loose panels is something to know about in calm weather.
If no roof of any kind is within reach, you are down to what you can put on the car.
A cover, or nothing
A strapped-down hail cover can soften small to medium hail, as long as it goes on a clean car before the storm. It cannot make the car hail proof, and big hail will still get through. What to look for, and the scratches a cover can cause on its own, are in car hail covers in Calgary.
If you have nothing at all:
- Move the car away from trees and anything that could blow over or fall in strong wind.
- Close every window and the sunroof.
- Then go inside and stay there. Environment Canada says hailstones can reach grapefruit size. Nothing in a parking lot is worth that.
So what the hail should you never do? Try to outrun it.
Do not drive into a storm
This is the mistake that turns a dent problem into a safety problem.
Driving into hail means driving into heavy precipitation, poor visibility and ice on the road, all at once. Racing it to reach a parkade risks far more than the paint.
If the storm catches you on the road:
- Slow down and pull off somewhere safe, clear of the traffic lanes.
- Do not stop on a highway shoulder or under an overpass. A stopped car in moving traffic, with poor visibility, is a crash risk.
- Stay inside the car until it passes.
- Carry on only when the road is safe again.
Dents can be repaired. Avoiding the storm in the first place starts with hearing about it in time.
How to get warned in time
Environment Canada issues a watch when conditions favour severe weather ("get ready") and a warning when it is happening or about to happen ("act now"). For parking, treat a watch as the time to plan and a warning as the time to move.
Do not count on your phone ringing by itself: most hail warnings do not trigger the emergency alerts that interrupt TV, radio and phones. Install Environment Canada's WeatherCAN app and turn its alerts on. How watches, warnings and the newer targeted warnings actually reach you is in hail watch vs warning in Calgary.
Right after it passes
Once the storm has gone through and it is safe, check the glass and lights first. Then photograph every panel in soft, angled light, before you wash the car. The full first-48-hours checklist is in what to do after a Calgary hailstorm.
Dents hide in flat, bright light, so a car that looks fine at noon may not be. That is where a proper look helps.
Book a scan before or after the next one
If the car has already been through a storm, or you want a clean record of it before next season, book the free 30-minute scan at the shop in SE Calgary. A technician checks every panel under proper lighting and tells you what is there and what can come out without paint. If you cannot come in yet, send a few photos taken at a low angle with light running across the roof and hood.
Quick answers
Is the top floor of a parkade safe from hail?
Should I move my car when a hail watch is issued?
Is it a good idea to park under a tree during hail?
What if hail starts while I am driving?
How do I know if a warning covers my part of Calgary?
The Hail Yeah Team
Calgary hail repair techs and claim wranglers. We publish what we explain across the counter every day: insurance, PDR, and what a fair repair looks like.