Your forecast
Sunny this morning, then a mix of sun and cloud with a 30 per cent chance of showers this afternoon. Risk of a thunderstorm this afternoon. Wind becoming south at 20 km/h early this afternoon. High 25 C. Humidex 27. UV index 7 or high.
Researchers have collected 8-centimetre hailstones and surveyed homes damaged by hail from storms that slammed southern Manitoba this month to better understand their predictability and impact on insurance.
Jack Hamilton, a researcher with the Canadian Severe Storms Laboratory, and his team have been gathering evidence and data from the June 9 storm that brought record rainfall to Winnipeg and surrounding communities, downed trees and power lines and resulted in basement and overland flooding. Two minor tornadoes were confirmed, in Ste. Anne and Dufrost. Nicole Buffie has more here.
Susan Oakley holds two large hailstones that fell in Sanford on June 9. Researchers are now analyzing data from the storm. (Susan Oakley photo)
What’s happening today
😄 The second quarterly Winnipeg Comedy Showcase of 2026 takes place at the Park Theatre with a lineup of some of the city’s top standup comedians, including Emmanuel Lomuro, Jordan Welwood, Andy Noble, Danielle Kayahara, Jon Wilson and Scott Koropas. Jared Story hosts. Park Theatre, 698 Osborne St., 7 p.m. Tickets available online.
Emmanuel Lomuro (Colby Spence photo)
Today’s must-read
The Bruce Oake Recovery Centre was designed to offer a long-term addictions treatment model that didn’t just help men find sobriety, but also convened a lasting community to support them. Five years after opened in May 2021, many things outside the centre have changed.
Substances on the street are evolving; some are more dangerous, cut with contaminants. The complexity of men’s needs has increased. Yet at Bruce Oake, they’ve learned to roll with those punches. The model is designed to be flexible.
“The most important thing is that this is working,” the centre’s executive director Greg Kyllo says brightly.
CEO Greg Kyllo congratulates a participant for a sobriety milestone during lunch. The centre holds a gratitude lunch every Thursday. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
He runs through the numbers. By mid-June, 569 men had completed the program. Of those, 59 per cent achieved one year of sobriety on their first try, 76 per cent were working after a year, and 97 per cent were housed.
These are not the only stats they track. Nor do they consider such figures the only measure of success. Addiction recovery is not neatly linear. Maybe a participant won’t reach a year sober on their first try, but the skills they gained will set them up to manage life better, or make their next try last longer. Melissa Martin has the story.
On the bright side
Mayor Scott Gillingham has hailed the reopening of Portage Avenue and Main Street as a success, nearly a year after the downtown intersection became accessible to pedestrians again.
Saturday marks one year since the intersection reopened to foot traffic. Portage and Main was closed to pedestrians since 1979 as part of a commercial development deal.
The city analyzed commute times on four key routes in November, concluding the reopening had a minimal impact compared with travel times in the same month in 2024.
Manitoba Public Insurance has not received reports of vehicle collisions involving pedestrians or cyclists at Portage and Main since the reopening, spokeswoman Kristy Rydz said. Chris Kitching has more here.
Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of the reopening of Portage and Main to foot traffic. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
On this date
On June 26, 1959: The Winnipeg Free Press reported in Montreal, the St. Lawrence Seaway was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth and U.S. president Dwight Eisenhower. Representatives of 16 municipalities in Greater Winnipeg met, but after a long meeting, the mayor of St. James said “We didn’t accomplish anything” after getting bogged down in procedural wrangles.
Today’s front page
Get the full story: Read today’s e-edition of the Free Press.
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