If you do visit Red Deer (and try to ignore the fact that the European red deer is genetically identical to the North American Elk, and thus the town should be called Elk, Alberta...) airport, go and say hi to the people who do "cloud seeding". It could be mighty interesting and while I doubt they advertise tours, it can't hurt to ask!
These are the guys who fly into and above hail-producing cells and drop chemicals to reduce the size of hailstones.