Wind gusts of 80 to 121 kilometres an hour swept across parts of Alberta on Sunday, tipping semi-trailers, downing trees and branches, throwing sheds, ripping shingles off and, in some cases, entire sections of roofs from buildings.
That was the case in Swan Hills, about 200 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, where storm damage ripped chunks off the roof and appeared to have damaged trusses of the Swan Hills School.
The Pembina Hills School Division closed the K-12 school on Monday and said a structural assessment would be undertaken to ensure the building is safe for students and staff before reopening.
In the meantime, the division said the school’s 200 or so students would temporarily shift to online learning.
Environment Canada wind warnings were in place Sunday for most areas from the Alberta-U.S. boundary to Fort McMurray and southwestern Saskatchewan.
“What we saw through Alberta was a low-pressure system and a cold front sweeping through the province, which brought with it very gusty winds — also, some snowfall to certain areas of the province,” said Environment Canada scientist Christy Climenhaga.
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While southern Alberta is no stranger to blustery conditions, on Sunday much of the province was affected.
“Up to about 100 kilometres per hour in very widespread areas, even peaks into that 110, 120 kilometres per hour in parts of central and northern Alberta,” Climenhaga said.
The strongest winds in Alberta were in Two Hills, located about an hour and a half east of Edmonton, where a peak of 121 km/h was recorded.
Winds of over 100 km/h were detected in more than two dozen Alberta communities, including Waterton Lakes National Park at 116 km/h, Slave Lake at 109 km/h, and both Medicine Hat and Vegreville at 107 km/h. Lethbridge and Peace River, located nearly 1,000 kilometres apart, both recorded 100 km/h.
Climenhaga said wind is hard to track records for, because it accompanies so many different weather events.
“In the summertime, with thunderstorms, we can have a gust front, straight-line wind. A tornado even, with very, very, very strong winds,” Climenhaga said.
“Whereas in this situation, you know, more of a synoptic, larger scale event, bringing very widespread spread and a longer period of time,” she explained. “So the impacts from those different events are a little bit different.”
“We do get these strong gusts but having it last for a few hours and cover such a large area is is more significant.”
Environment Canada said a similar wind system may roll through later this week, however Climenhaga said it should be more active in southern Alberta.
EPCOR said there were around 8,400 homes without power at 1 p.m. in Edmonton, where gusts of 91 km/h were recorded in the downtown core.
Residents across the city wound up with their neighbour’s possessions blown into their yard, ranging from small to large — as was the case in the west end, where an entire metal shed got blown into a West Meadowlark yard.
Fortis Alberta spokeswoman, Tanya Croft, said in a statement that a fast-moving winter storm left multiple power outages across the province, with 8,000 residents without power at points throughout the day.
Croft said residents were reminded to stay at least 10 metres away from downed power lines and avoid damaged electrical equipment.
Alberta power company ATCO also shows some power outages in northwestern Alberta.
The wind was accompanied by snow in southern Alberta, including in Calgary, along the foothills, and in the areas of Banff, Strathmore, Waterton Lakes and Vulcan, where up to 20 cm of snow was expected to fall before tapering off Sunday night.
A warning from RCMP near Airdrie said strong winds and blowing snow was causing limited visibility on major highways like the QEII, where police responded to several crashes on Sunday.
— With files from The Canadian Press
We dont believe in climinate change is Alberta, so this was for sure an act of god.