Thunderstorms roll across southern Manitoba, thousands without power

Thunderstorms rolled across southern Manitoba Monday morning, bringing high winds and a deluge of rain.

The morning sky looked more like midnight as the storm rolled up to Winnipeg at about 7:45 a.m., prompting a thunderstorm warning.

“A strong line of thunderstorms have developed from just southeast of Portage La Prairie to just north of Morden and is moving northeast at 30 km/h. Quarter sized hail and 95 km/h wind gusts are likely with these storms,” said Environment and Climate Change Canada.

“Heavy downpours can cause flash floods and water pooling on roads. Large hail can damage property and cause injury. Strong wind gusts can toss loose objects, damage weak buildings, break branches off trees and overturn large vehicles.”

In various areas in southern Manitoba, Manitoba Hydro was reporting widespread outages, with 8,000 without power at 7:55 a.m.

At about 8:15 a.m., a large swath of northern Winnipeg saw their power go out. At 8:20 a.m., Manitoba Hydro reported 5,050 customers were without power in the Kildonans and in St. James, and as the day rolled on, up to 20,000 customers were without power.