Wicked wind whips Westman

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This article was published 18/06/2024 (690 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Wind gusts of more than 100 kilometres an hour ripped out trees, pushed over steel bins, sheared off the top of a grain elevator and knocked out power affecting thousands of people in southwestern Manitoba late Saturday night into Sunday morning.

The damage was caused by the intense winds that were part of not one but several thunderstorms that pushed their way through numerous locations, starting at about 11 p.m. Saturday, said Natalie Hasell, meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

“The greatest winds we saw were in Dand — just north of Deloraine, and that was 123 kilometres an hour. Deloraine had 101 kilometres per hour, Bede had 101 kilometres per hour, and Souris recorded 100 (km/h),” said Hasell.

Hail was part of the storms as well, with toonie-sized hail reported in Nesbitt, and hailstones the size of golf balls in Glenboro, she said.

While there is no evidence to support that the damage was caused by a tornado, Hasell added, at this point, “it can’t be ruled out.”

But what is known, Hasell said, is the type of storm that produced the wind gusts — it’s called a derecho. Derechos can produce large amounts of rain, and “some pretty strong winds.”

“Derechos are thunderstorms that are organized in a line, and that line is pushed by a strong, low-level jet. And these storms tend to produce strong winds — straight-line winds,” said Hasell.

“So, downdraft, downburst, plow winds, all those words relate to straight-line winds coming out of the downdraft section of the storm. And in this case as the (storm) line moved — it generated those strong winds,” she said.

In Elkhorn, about 103 kilometres west of Brandon, the winds pushed over four of eight steel bins in the yard at the Twin Valley Co-op Agro location. As the bins lay on their side, one looks like it was punched at the top, and another one has a huge dent.

Manager Darryl Brown said he has never seen anything quite like it.

“We fill the steel bins in the yard here and actually blend fertilizer for farmers,” Brown said. “So, they were empty because we’re past the seeding part of the season, but they were anchored down and everything — it was just bad luck.”

Saturday night’s winds ripped the top off an historic grain elevator in the community of Sinclair, about 123 kilometres southwest of Brandon.

The raised section that was destroyed is called the cupola or headhouse, where the head drive of the vertical conveyor system is located.

The wooden elevator was built in 1928 by Manitoba Pool Elevators, was renovated in 1976 and closed in 2002 when it was sold to private ownership, according to the Historic Sites of Manitoba website.

Archie McPherson, Reeve of the RM of Pipestone, said it has always been part of the landscape and he was disappointed when he heard that the top had been damaged.

“I’ve only been here 46 years, but it’s been here ever since I have,” said McPherson.

“And it’s a regular and big elevator,” he added. “But it was a scary storm, and this is twice in a few years it’s been damaged, and it’s more significant this time around.

“It was a Manitoba Pool elevator, and is now privately owned, but hasn’t been in use for a few years. So, I’m not sure what they’re going to do with it this time around,” he said.

When asked if the power went out in Sinclair, McPherson said no — adding he was up “through the night” in case he had to get the “generator going.”

But there were thousands of Manitobans who did experience power outages “due to the high winds,” said Scott Powell, director of corporate communications with Manitoba Hydro, and some are still doing without electricity.

As of 9 a.m. Monday, there were about 3,000 customers across Westman, the Parkland and central Manitoba who were still without power, said Powell, and that number would have been higher at the storm’s peak.

“We saw a lot of lines down, we saw some poles down and significant damage from trees blowing into our equipment, which is a huge issue,” said Powell.

The area of outages included Deloraine south to the Canada-U.S. border, north to Russell and Roblin, communities south of Riding Mountain National Park, west to Saskatchewan and east toward Portage la Prairie.

“So, fairly widespread,” said Powell. “No huge outages, as in one outage affecting a number of customers, but multiple, smaller outages or medium-sized outages across the region. It’s difficult to give a complete number because as some customers are getting restored, other ones are going down depending on where that storm hits.”

Powell reminded people to check Manitoba Hydro’s website — hydro.mb.ca/outages/outage-map/ — for the map that shows every outage in the province that is updated every 15 minutes.

“If you look at our outage map, there is a wide number of outages that impact less than five customers. So, we typically restore lines that feed the largest number of customers first and then we work our way down to the smaller outages throughout that process,” said Powell.

As crews with the City of Brandon cleaned up the toppled trees Monday from Saturday’s storm, the focus was on public safety said Bryce Wilson, manager of parks and recreation services.

There were damaged trees “all over the entire city,” Wilson said, so crews were checking the hanging planters and clearing branches from roadways.

“We completed 22 emergency calls on Sunday and on Monday received 42 reports online, but none of the downed power lines within city limits were due to trees,” he said.

This will be the first of many storms this summer, cautioned Hasell, and reminded people that like a tornado, the winds associated with the downdraft are “intense, and can be devastating.”

“So, when we talk about strong winds and taking shelter, we want people to take shelter in a true basement.

“If you don’t have access to a true basement, then go to a small interior space with as many walls between you and the outside as possible,” Hasell said.

“These winds create damage, and the stuff that gets damaged becomes debris and starts flying around, and we know that debris can impale or pierce walls.

“That’s why we don’t want people to be near walls, windows or skylights. Take shelter in a basement or a small interior room.

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

» X: @enviromichele