Southwestern Manitoba hammered by hail, thousands without power amid more wild weather

It looked more like the middle of February than early July in parts of southwestern Manitoba, with streets, rooftops and yards blanketed in white on Sunday.

The white covering Killarney wasn’t snow, however — it was hail, left behind by a powerful storm that pummelled the community located about 250 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg.

“It looks like a war zone at the moment,” Killarney resident Céline Dagg said on Monday.

Residents reported the hailstorm began around 5:45 p.m. and lasted about 10-15 minutes, leaving widespread damage in its wake.

Dagg, who also shared photos with the Free Press, said the storm became so intense she and her husband couldn’t see across the street. “We headed to the basement,” she said.

Her husband had to rake debris off their roof after the storm because it was covered with “so many leaves and branches,” Dagg said, while she had to clear off their home’s deck on Monday.

Crops in the area were pummelled and houses and businesses took on a lot of water. “There were lots of trees down,” she said. “One hit the corner of a friend’s house and car.”

Leaves remained plastered to the side of the couple’s shed and its skylight had been broken by hail that measured the size of golf balls at times, Dagg said.

The wild weather also sparked tornado warnings, heavy rain and power outages for more than 6,000 Manitoba Hydro customers Sunday night and Monday morning, Hydro said.

Tornado warnings were issued for some areas — including Souris, Wawanesa and Peguis First Nation — as severe thunderstorms rolled through southern and western Manitoba.

Environment and Climate Change Canada said Monday there were no confirmed tornadoes that touched down, although it received some reports of funnel clouds.

Gwen Sutton, who captured video of the storm’s aftermath — including flooded streets and hail-covered rooftops and lawns — said many of the hailstones were still on the ground Monday morning. (See the video at wfp.to/killarney)

“I’m 82 years old and I haven’t seen (a storm) like this ever like that,” she said. “I can’t remember ever being a storm that’s so intense. There was a terrible wind with it and a lot of rain.”

Sutton and her husband recently moved to Killarney, a community of roughly 2,500, but have lived in southern Manitoba their entire lives.

She said municipal crews were out Monday clearing debris, while her own vehicle sustained hail damage. “There’s been a skid loader and a loader, and they’ve taken buckets and buckets of leaves,” she said.

Another Killarney resident, Christine Jansen, said a window in her living room was smashed during the storm.

“It was pretty intense,” she said. “Lots of damage to vehicles in town, including ours.

“There was lots of flooding in the streets. My husband was helping clear drains as neighbours’ basements were flooding. There were also downed hydro lines in town as well. People also have damage to their gardens.”

Killarney was among the hardest-hit communities during Sunday’s severe weather, according to Environment Canada meteorologist Terri Lang.

The community received about 20 to 30 millimetres of rain in a short period, accompanied by wind gusts approaching 80 km/h.

“I can probably list about 20 places last night that reported hail in southern Manitoba,” Lang said, noting hail was reported across all three Prairie provinces. “Killarney stands out with how much hail they got, which was golf ball-plus in size.”

Lang said the combination of large hail and strong winds likely caused extensive damage.

“It’s one thing if the hail is falling straight down,” she said. “It’s another thing when it’s being driven by an 80 km/h wind gust. That can inflict quite a bit of damage, not just to trees and stuff like that, but also vehicles, siding and windows.”

While rainfall totals were not exceptionally high, Lang said the rain fell quickly and, combined with hail and leaves that clogged storm drains, contributed to flooding on local streets.

Lang described Manitoba’s severe weather season as “nutty, nutty.”

“The last few years have been really quiet in Manitoba, so I think people forgot” about being prepared for storms of this magnitude, she said. “The last few years have been really dry, so when the years are dry, we tend to have really quiet severe weather seasons.”

A wet winter and spring, however, left abundant moisture in the landscape, while growing crops have added even more moisture to the atmosphere.

“And for whatever reason, the atmosphere decided to add to that … and then you have all the ingredients you need for severe weather,” she said. “So often with severe weather it’s feast or famine.”

Meantime, Manitoba Hydro said crews were working to restore power to customers after strong winds downed poles and power lines. However, outages were still widespread Monday morning.

“While crews were able to restore several outages overnight, strong storms continued to roll through and impact the area,” the Crown corporation said in a statement on social media. “We are currently assessing damage affecting power to more than 6,000 customers and will be working throughout the day to replace broken poles, restring downed lines, and repair damaged equipment.”

Hydro said additional outages could occur throughout the day while crews completed repairs and restored power.

Meanwhile, wildfire smoke is causing or expected to cause poor air quality and reduced visibility in parts of northern Manitoba on Monday, Environment Canada said.

“As smoke levels increase, health risks increase. Limit time outdoors. Consider reducing or rescheduling outdoor sports, activities and events,” an air quality warning said.

— with files by Chris Kitching

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca