An intense line of thunderstorms moving through parts of the Pembina Valley hammered the region early Tuesday evening with very heavy rainfall and hail. The downpour flooded streets in Winkler with water running down parts of Main Street and overflowing areas of downtown. Meanwhile, in Morden, ditches were filled in a short period of time.
"RADAR imagery indicated a particularly intense area of rainfall set up over the Winkler area, and it stayed there for an extended period of time," said CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner Tuesday night. "The rain hovered over the region for an hour or more, and Rainwatcher reports from city residents are suggesting 100mm (4 inches) or more may have fallen in that short sixty-minute time frame. That is a tremendous rainfall rate."
The Manitoba Ag Weather Network station located south of Winkler reported 57.3mm (almost 2.3 inches) of rainfall between 7 and 8 p.m.
The downpour stranded many motorists in the deep water on lower elevation streets throughout the city. That also kept the Winkler Fire Department busy.
Fire Chief Richard Paetzold said they began helping stranded motorists shortly after the storm began.
In this type of situation, Paetzold encourages motorists to stay off the roads until the water recedes. That not only helps the people that are already out assisting those needing help, but he also noted in some cases, the water was so deep, the waves created by big trucks driving through were washing up onto homes and garages.
The below video was submitted to PembinaValleyOnline by Brenda Dyck and shows the hail as it came down in the Winkler area Tuesday evening. The video was taken on Mountain Avenue, and Dyck estimates the largest hail stones were Loonie size.
The City of Winkler shared the below post on its Facebook page Tuesday evening.
The below video was taken Tuesday evening at several different locations in Morden.
The line of storms reached the Altona area around 8 p.m. bringing heavy rainfall to the community, as well.
The below photo gallery is of full ditches in Morden.