The house will have to be destroyed and rebuilt after a fire started by lightning. (CBC)

An afternoon storm that smacked parts of Calgary with marble-sized hail on Thursday also sent out lightning that ignited a house under construction.

At about 4:15 p.m., lightning struck the home in the new northwest community of Evanston, said the Calgary fire department. When crews arrived, flames had engulfed the two-storey structure.

One worker inside the house at the time left safely. Three adjacent houses were evacuated due to the large amount of smoke generated by the fire, said Deb Bergeson, a fire department spokeswoman.

Bergeson estimated the damages from the fire to be $120,000, and said most of the structure will have to be destroyed and rebuilt.

An afternoon storm slammed some parts of Calgary with hail. (CBC)

However, most of the costly features had not yet been added to the home, which was slated for occupancy in September.

She pointed out the house was already grounded and had no features that would cause it to attract lightning more than any other structure in the area.

For about two hours on Thursday, heavy rain, hail, lightning and thunder blasted the city's north as well as the Stampede grounds, sending people running for cover.