Lightning peels bark off tree; extreme heat and humidity loom

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This article was published 04/07/2018 (2775 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A tree peeled like a banana by an early morning lightning strike in St. Norbert and an unfinished barn that was blown down by high winds on Wednesday are examples of some extreme weather coming our way this week.

Now a heat wave is in the forecast, Natalie Hasell of Environment Canada said Wednesday.

“One type of severe weather that we had to deal with was what we saw this morning and the next is in the next few days where we’ll have high heat and humidity and temperatures in Winnipeg in the forecast rising between now and Friday,” she said.

She said Friday’s forecast high is 28 C, which is slightly above normal, followed by 33 C on Saturday, 30 C on Sunday, 31 C on Monday and 33 C on Tuesday.

Officials from Environment Canada and the Canadian Lightning Detection network said Wednesday’s lightning strike that tore the bark off a tree near the corner of Grandmont Boulevard and Delorme Place in St. Norbert at about 5 a.m. was considered a positive strike and measured 66 kiloamps.

Positive lightning originates in the tops of storm clouds and is stronger, hotter and more destructive than a negative strike. The 66 ka measure is about twice the average of a positive strike and is considered “huge,” Environment Canada said.

She said Winnipeg may reach heat warning status.

“I suggest people behave as though a heat warning has been reached,” she said.

Heat warning criteria in southern Manitoba include a temperature of 32 C or higher during the day and a night temperature of 16 C or higher followed by another day of similar temperatures or a humidex value of 38 C.

She said humidex values in that range are expected this weekend.

“I don’t know if we’ll be quite as bad for quite as long (as Montreal is experiencing) because Sunday’s temperature is slightly cooler. If it ends up being a bit warmer than the forecast suggests, which some models are saying, we could be in similarly hot conditions as Eastern Canada,” Hasell said.

She cautioned that people should try to avoid the heat and those who are susceptible to health risks due to the heat, such as very young or very old people, anyone with cardiovascular issues or those on certain medications need to take precautions or be cared for.

“Of course, we should not have to say this but we do have to say it. Don’t leave children, pets or other animals inside closed vehicles,” she said.

Hasell said the lightning that hit the St. Norbert tree and the wind that blew down the barn were part of a powerful system that moved through southern Manitoba during the early morning hours of Wednesday.

“The winds out of that system might have reached anywhere from 90 to 100 to 110 kilometres an hour,” Hasell said, noting the fact that the barn was under construction contributed to its vulnerability to the high winds. “It was a line (of thunderstorms) that went through southern Manitoba from west to east.”

She said trees with peeled bark, a line of scarring or an entire tree completely shattering are often visual evidence of lighting strikes.

Environment Canada said a lightning strike of that power would likely kill a tree.

A City of Winnipeg spokeswoman said officials from the forestry department examined the tree and it will be removed on Thursday.

“Lightning strikes can have various effects on trees, depending on the moisture content inside the tree and in the ground. Typically, we see a single strip of bark, extending from the crown to the ground, blown away from the tree. The lightning damage to this healthy green ash tree is unique,” she said. “Lightning strikes can cause irreparable damage to trees and in those cases, the tree must be removed. Unfortunately this tree will need to be removed due to the damage.”

St. Norbert resident Chris Rutkowski said he heard a “really loud clap of thunder and thought it was close by” at about 5 a.m.

“When I left the house this morning, I found this tree had been literally peeled like a banana by that lightning strike. Clumps of earth had been thrown almost four metres away,” said Rutkowski, who is well-known as Manitoba’s ufologist. He is a Canadian science writer and educator with degrees in astronomy and education who is also an expert in researching UFOs.

He said there’s nothing supernatural about the strike, but said that it qualifies as an example of “Fortean phenomena” which are weird things that happen and have a basis in science.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca