Manitoba hit hard by rain, but stormwatchers south of the border saw tornadoes

Heavy rain from overnight thunderstorms left much of Manitoba damp on Monday morning, but our weather was nothing compared to the severe conditions just south of the border in North Dakota, which included tornadoes.

Jim Kaiser, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NAOO), told 680 CJOB there were a few twisters in the southern part of the border state on Sunday night.

“We had a few short-lived tornadoes along the North Dakota-South Dakota border,” said Kaiser.

“That cluster of storms kind of lifted up to the north and east, and came through the Fargo and Grand Forks area, and we had winds as high as 130 km/h.

“We’re gonna kind of have a repeat of last night again today. That tornado threat doesn’t seem to be as high today as it was yesterday, so that’s the good news there. We’re still going to have that hail and that wind threat tonight and another round of some heavy rain.”

Here in Manitoba, communities near the Canada-U.S. border saw the heaviest rainfalls — Emerson got 64 mm of rain overnight while Gardenton and Woodridge saw 130 mm.

Communities across the province — specifically in southeastern Manitoba — that are cleaning up after Sunday’s storms won’t have much time to recover. There’s a likelihood of further thunderstorms Monday night.