A major weather event on Thursday in Saskatchewan included thunderstorms, dust storms and wind gusts reaching up to 115 km/h.
Falling and flying debris damaged trees and structures, and power was still out in some areas as of Friday morning.
“I’m not surprised. I mean, at those wind speeds, you’re bordering on like, EF0 tornado-level winds,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Danielle Desjardins. The EF, or Enhanced Fujita, scale is used to rate tornadoes, and EF0 is at the low end.
High winds kept crews from repairing power lines in some areas, leaving many communities without power for long periods.
Here’s how strong winds whipped up dust on the Prairies
Radville, about 130 km south of Regina, was the windiest place in the province, with gusts reaching up to 115 km/h. It was among nine communities that had winds measured above 100 km/h, including Climax, Milestone, Coronach, Swift Current, Estevan, Yellow Grass, Val Marie and Shaunavon.
“We had a wind gust come through and it was one of the extreme ones and it basically picked up the sheeting off the roof of one of our shelters and removed it,” said Laura Stock, co-owner of Happy Little Hooves Pony and Donkey Sanctuary near Estevan.
“That means repairs. Once this wind dies down, we’re going to have to cover the roof and actually look into raising some funds.”
The sanctuary is host to equines with special needs, and big concerns come with an asthmatic donkey in a dust storm.
“Wind like this picking up dust really affects our little ones that have respiratory issues,” said Stock. “We have to keep a really close eye on them and give them medicine should they start having breathing issues.”
Some of the precipitation came as snow north of the Yellowhead Highway, while the highest rainfall totals reached up to 32 millimetres. Looking ahead, Desjardins said the precipitation will calm, but the long weekend won’t be too comfortable.
“We are expecting precipitation to continue persisting through the day, but diminishing overnight into Saturday morning,” she said on Friday morning. “We could expect upwards of 40 to 50 mm in those higher northwest, central areas, Meadow Lake, North Battleford.”
She noted winds will remain strong Friday in the south, calming in the evening.
“We have another low-pressure system that we are looking at,” said Desjardins. “That will clip southeastern Saskatchewan later this weekend, beginning on Sunday through Monday. So the rest of the province will stay relatively dry, but the south and southeast look to have some more precipitation on its way.”
