An intense Alberta clipper crossed the province Saturday and with it came strong to severe wind gusts for much of Southern Manitoba. This was the second consecutive weekend the region experienced winds between 70 and 90+ km/h
“It was a very similar scenario to what we had last Sunday through Monday at the end of September,” explained CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. “Strong southerly winds ahead of the lows arrival due to its counterclockwise rotation, then shifting westerly and northwesterly as it moved through and the cold front passed.”
The windstorm kept Manitoba Hydro busy all weekend and at one point, several thousand customers were affected. While power has been restored to most, because of downed trees and some roads being blocked, power does remain out for some customers in areas that are a little more remote. In Portage la Prairie, lights flickered a few times but the power stayed on for the most part.
Here are some of the peak wind gusts according to Environment Canada and the Manitoba Ag Weather Network. The numbers are for Saturday, October 5th.
- Windygates/Pierson - 99km/h
- Treherne - 98km/h
- Manitou/Snowflake/Reston - 95km/h
- Brandon/Killarney – 94km/h
- Deerwood – 93km/h
- Somerset/Minnedosa - 92km/h
- Pilot Mound/Forrest – 91km/h
- Minto/Rivers/Wawanesa - 90km/h
- Brunkild/Austin/Boissevain – 89km/h
- Clearwater – 88km/h
- Jordan – 87km/h
- Kane/Deloraine/Gretna - 85km/h
- Altona/Morris/Winkler (south of city)/Dominion City – 82km/h
- Elm Creek – 81km/h
- Emerson – 80km/h
- Portage la Prairie - 71km/h
- Carman – 69km/h
- Steinbach – 65km/h
“Surface high pressure came into the region Sunday, and that means ample sunshine for a few days, and seasonal temperatures,” he explained. “We will see a return to well above temperatures for the middle of the week as a ridge of high pressure moves eastward from the Rockies over the area, allowing much warmer air to move northward.”
At this point, highs Tuesday through Thursday are forecast to be in the 20 to 24 degree range for daytime highs. Averages for this time of year are 13 degrees daytime and +2 overnight.