Strong winds are to blame for widespread power outages in Saskatchewan.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) says severe storms have caused damaging winds in the northern and southeastern corners of the province.
ECCC meteorologist Terri Lang says Sunday’s storm was a supercell with the potential to cause a tornado.
“After the tornado risk passed, the storm started to widen. And that’s when the risk of these very strong winds became quite evident,” Lang said.
And here it is! “Localized Floods” Hwy 8 Rocanville 1630h today after pic.twitter.com/rEYvt1V9tw
– @ JeffHamonPhoto
Lang said no reports of tornadoes have been confirmed so far, but that the wind was still causing significant damage.
“We saw one or two videos of some very strong winds and it was reported as a tornado. But the meteorologists looked, it looks more like a gust of wind or strong winds coming out of the storm. of course, it can do a lot of damage, “Lang said.
The start of the outflow in Moosomin, SK, lowered this sign. 16:08. pic.twitter.com/IQoByaI2TH
– @ Mahairy93
Lang said the ECCC has also received reports of sudden flooding, along with hailstones the size of a golf ball and a tennis ball, in the southeast.
This photo was taken near Langbank, Sask. “We had a lot of reports of big hail. It looks as big as baseballs and tennis balls,” says ECCC meteorologist Terri Lang. (Bucky Boren)
Lang said the storm was so severe that the ECCC decided to issue its first “intrusive release notice” since updating its warning system. The system is also used for amber alerts and other urgent newsletters.
Lang said the storm moved northeast through the province, clearing power lines at places like Kipling, about 145 miles southeast of Regina, and Pelican Narrows, about 420 miles north. is from Saskatoon.
“That’s when the risk of these very strong winds became pretty obvious,” Lang said.
Crystal Leggett was in Kipling celebrating Father’s Day when the storm fell.
“It was a complete target when the wind and rain came out,” Leggett says
After the storm passed, they toured the community to study the damage.
“The branches of the trees hanging on the power lines were also a little scary,” Leggett says.
Joel Cherry is a spokesman for SaskPower.
“We had damage to both the transmission and distribution lines in the southeastern part of the province, particularly the transmission lines, the higher voltage lines,” Cherry said.
This photo was taken near Moosomin, Sask. “After the tornado risk passed, the storm started to widen,” Lang says. (Mhairi McDonald)
Cherry said the wind dropped trees on power lines at Pelican Narrows, but that electricity had been restored in the northeast as of 12:45 p.m. Monday CST.
In the southeast, teams were still working today to restore service.
Cherry said there were still between 175 and 200 customers without electricity in the Moosomin / Wapella area.
Lang said the ECCC is still looking for images or videos of the public storm. He asked people to tweet with the hashtag #skstorm or an email to ECCC.