Some parts of southwestern Manitoba are in clean-up mode after a quick, sudden storm unexpectedly caused chaos.
Devon Cook, from the town of Binscarth, told Global News the storm lasted no more than three minutes, but it left destruction in its wake, due in part to “golf ball-size up to baseball-size” hail.
“It did a lot of damage in about three minutes. It busted lots of windows, dented the vehicles… it came quick and it was over quick,” Cook said.
“It actually dented all of the vehicles in the driveway. Smashed up my mirror, smashed up the windshield. We have about five windows facing north from where it was coming and three of the five are smashed. Two of the three of the big picture windows are are smashed.
“It’s a lot of damage to the siding, lots of holes in the siding of the house …and the garage door, it also looked like it got its fair share of it too.”
Cook said he expects many homes in the area suffered similar damage.
Environment Canada meteorologist Kyle Fourgere confirmed that Binscarth is located in one of the hardest-hit areas, with winds up to 100 km/h.
Get daily National news
“We had reports that the hail size was breaking windows and even damaging siding on houses as it moved through the area,” Fougere said.
“That same storm also affected the Rossburn area, with baseball-sized hail. There were a number of other storms throughout southern Manitoba, a lot of which were severe.
“The warm and moist air is what fuels these thunderstorms. It’s what gives them this energy — that warm air, it rises and the moisture cools and condenses. And that’s what fuels the energy for these storms.”
Fougere said Enivornment Canada is also investigating reports of a possible tornado in the area. He said as we’re in peak season for severe storms, Manitoba could see more tornado threats in the near future.
Unfortunately, parts of Manitoba are due for more stormy weather Friday into the weekend.
“There is the risk of more severe storms in southern Manitoba today, especially the southeastern part of Manitoba,” Fougere said.
“If anyone has any plans, especially if they’re traveling outside of Winnipeg, particularly east along the Trans-Canada, there will be the threat of severe storms today. So we just try to remind people to make sure that they have a way to receive the watches and warnings that we are likely to put out.”
Comments