The skies above southern Manitoba put on quite a light show Wednesday night into Thursday morning — and while Winnipeg got walloped by the storm, the hardest hit region was around Portage la Prairie.
Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Crawford Luke told 680 CJOB that there were reports of golf-ball-sized hail in the Portage area, as well as significant heavy rain, before the storm continued toward Winnipeg.
“No surprise, the highest rainfall totals we’re seeing so far this morning are from Portage,” Luke said.
“Over 100 millimetres — four inches — of rain over the course of basically six or seven hours last night. Southwest of La Salle, we actually had another report of 95 millimetres of rain.”
Rainfall totals varied in Winnipeg, with the southwestern corner of the city receiving between 55-60 millimetres, while eastern areas near Transcona saw only 15.
Luke said Thursday that the severe weather is mostly behind us.
“There might just be some rain showers that we get into today more than anything. Eventually, we should (be) clear,” he said.
“Tomorrow afternoon, it looks like we might get another round of showers in the afternoon and evening, and then finally we should clear out for the weekend.
“It looks like some colder temperatures are on the way, but it looks like we’re going to warm up for next week.”
Some of the northern areas that were hit hardest by wildfires this summer, Luke said, are in for some more rain this week as well.
Hail, rain, tornado watch: Southern Manitoba hammered with severe weather
