Torrential rain and pounding hail created flooding conditions in parts of Edmonton, including inside Canada's largest shopping mall.

A skylight near the skating rink in West Edmonton Mall broke during the Sunday afternoon storm, allowing water to pour into the mall.

"It's crazy, it's chaotic," laughed one man who was at the mall to visit the casino.

No injuries or deaths are reported. The mall has been closed.

Some reports by people exiting the mall report seeing a "waterfall of water" flowing from the second floor. A shopkeeper said the water was ankle-deep on the main floor.

Mall employees broke the Plexiglas around the skating rink and used large squeegees to push the water onto the rink's surface.

CFRN News' Carmen Woida said when she arrived at the mall, there was an announcement that Phase II, which includes the rink, would be closed, but that it was soon expanded to the entire 800-store complex.

A major traffic jam was created as people tried to fight through the high water to get out of the mall's parking area.

Flooding is being reported on some roadways and in some low-lying city parks. Some park users reported getting up on picnic benches to avoid the rising water.

Many roads were reported closed in the city's southwest. "It was incredibly slow going right all over the city. Drivers quickly found water right up to their windows," said CFRN News' Peter Akman.

"Lower-lying areas were flooding within minutes of rain starting, leaving many cars stranded on the roadways. Many sewer grates were clogged with ice and hail." The city has sent out crews to unclog the drains, he said.

Some adventurous souls canoed the new rushing river on their street.

Huge mounds of hail, some of it the size of golf balls, piled up in some areas on the west side of the city.

Funnel clouds were spotted in Morinville, about 50 kilometres north of Edmonton, and a tornado touched down near the village of Chipman, about 70 kilometres east of Edmonton.

Severe thunderstorms and some funnel clouds were reported in central Alberta, the area between Edmonton and Calgary.

The RCMP was advising people to not travel under any circumstances.

One other casualty was the International Triathalon Union competition in Edmonton's Hawrelak Park.

Simon Whitfield, Canada's gold medalist in the sport at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, was one of those affected by the weather-related cancellation.

"Yeah, of course it's disappointing. Alberta weather didn't co-operate today," he told CFRN News.

While Whitfield expressed his condolences for the race's organizers, he also deadpanned, "for me not to three-peat ..."