Storm system brings hail, heavy rain to Westman

A storm system swept across Brandon and parts of Westman on Tuesday afternoon, bringing heavy rain and hail.

The system briefly disrupted power at Brandon Regional Health Centre and The Town Centre mall.

Prairie Mountain Health communications co-ordinator Blaine Kraushaar said the hospital experienced a short power outage during the storm.

“I can confirm that BRHC was affected briefly by a recent hydro outage in Brandon earlier today,” Kraushaar told the Sun. “The outage lasted about 25 minutes. Backup systems were activated.”

Kraushaar said PMH had not received reports of similar outages at any other health-care facilities in the region.

Justin Oertel, founder and lead weather forecaster at The Weather Centre of Manitoba, said while Brandon escaped significant damage, some areas experienced more severe conditions.

“Other than some small hail in Brandon and torrential downpours of rain leading to some minor flash flooding, the damage has been minimal,” he said.

“Further southeast of the Westman region toward Baldur, there was a report of golf ball- to tennis-ball-sized hail earlier this afternoon,” Oertel said.

Oertel said the storm system was typical for this time of year, when severe weather season begins across the province.

“(Monday) was the start of meteorological summer, which begins our three-month period here in Manitoba where we record the most tornadoes and severe weather occurrences throughout the year,” he told the Sun.

He said a strong trough moving through the Prairies, combined with a cold front, created favourable conditions for thunderstorm development.

“Today we had a strong trough in place which helps to support storm formation and sustain the storms’ updrafts. We also had a trigger for those storms today in the form of a cold front.”

The storm prompted residents across Brandon and Westman to share photos and accounts of severe weather on social media.

Chris Brandon reported that downtown Brandon was hit by heavy rain around 3:15 p.m., accompanied by pea-sized hail.

Shawna Thompson said hail also fell at her home south of Brandon, while other residents reported hail and heavy rain in the Minto area.

Manitoba Hydro communications manager Peter Chura said the Crown corporation had no reported outages in Brandon as of Tuesday afternoon.

“We are aware of the stormy weather in southwestern Manitoba that can result in outages,” Chura said. “Currently, we don’t have any reported outages in Brandon.”

Chura said residents should report power outages directly to Manitoba Hydro and exercise caution around damaged electrical infrastructure.

“When you see a downed power line, you should stay at least 10 metres away and call 911,” he said.

Environment Canada had issued severe thunderstorm watches and warnings for parts of southwestern Manitoba earlier in the day as conditions became favourable for strong thunderstorms capable of producing large hail, damaging winds and heavy rainfall.

No injuries or significant storm-related damage had been reported in Brandon as of Tuesday evening.

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