Residents in southern Manitoba experienced a tense period on Tuesday as multiple tornado and severe thunderstorm alerts swept through the area from late afternoon into the evening. The series of alerts began around 4 p.m. CT and extended past 11 p.m. CT, with warnings issued for various locations, including Winnipeg on two separate occasions hours apart.
In Winnipeg, the storm brought dark skies, hail, and heavy rainfall, leading to flooded basements and underpasses. Environment and Climate Change Canada’s warning preparedness meteorologist, Alysa Pederson, mentioned in an interview with CBC News that the storm had been intensifying as it slowly moved northeast after 7 p.m.
Although two tornado reports were received by the weather agency on Tuesday near Morris and the Ste. Anne area, they remained unconfirmed. The initial alerts were issued in the afternoon for Grunthal, St. Malo, and St-Pierre-Jolys, later replaced by tornado warnings for Ste. Anne and La Coulee at 5:24 p.m.
Most of southern Manitoba was under an orange tornado watch due to the expected movement of a “large linear thunderstorm complex” from Saskatchewan. This watch, issued before 2 p.m., covered the province’s southwestern corner, extending to the western shore of Lake Manitoba and parts of the Interlake region, including Brandon, Winnipeg, Portage la Prairie, Steinbach, Morden, and Winkler.
Environment Canada warned of possible severe thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes, along with strong winds, large hail, and heavy rain in these areas. For the latest updates and information, visit Environment Canada’s weather alerts page. Manitoba is considered one of the provinces most prone to tornadoes during the spring and summer months.