Many Manitobans have had a stormy start to the weekend and there could be more to come as Environment Canada has issued severe thunderstorm watches and warnings throughout the day Saturday.
As of 3 p.m. Saturday, much of southern Manitoba — from the U.S. border to the Gypsumville area in the Lakes Region, and from Riding Mountain in the west to the Steinbach area east — was under a thunderstorm warning or watch, according to Environment Canada.
Severe thunderstorm warnings are issued when imminent or ongoing thunderstorms are likely to produce, or are producing, large hail, high winds or torrential rain.
As of 3:45 p.m., these warnings were in effect for much of the region north of Winnipeg and into the Interlake region, including Selkirk, Teulon, Winnipeg Beach, Victoria Beach and Gimli.
Most of the rest of southern Manitoba, including the Winnipeg area, was under a severe thunderstorm watch, meaning conditions are favourable for storm development Saturday afternoon.
Only the western and eastern tips of southern Manitoba were not included in the watches and warnings.
Hail the size of a dollar coin and wind gusts of up to 100 km/h are the main threats posed by the thunderstorms, which are expected to leave the region later Saturday afternoon or evening, Environment Canada said.
Meanwhile, Manitoba Hydro said crews were working to restore power after thunderstorms caused outages earlier Saturday.
“In many cases, high winds have blown branches or trees into our lines,” Manitoba Hydro said in a post Saturday afternoon on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Anyone who sees a downed power line should stay away and call 911, he said.
