Storm rips through the area on June 12
A storm that entered Manitoba from Saskatchewan on Wednesday afternoon, June 12 produced multiple tornadoes, said Dan Fulton, an Environment Canada senior meteorologist.
“There’s definitely several — like maybe four separate ones,” Fulton said Thursday morning, although it will take a while for the weather agency to confirm the number.
Swan Lake First Nation suffered the most damage, but no injuries have been reported following the tornadoes, he said.
The first tornado warning was issued at 3:30 p.m. for Binscarth, a village near the Saskatchewan border.
Over the course of three hours, the storm tracked southeast for about 300 kilometres, from Binscarth to the Morden-Winkler area, around 100 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, Fulton said.
Reports of tornadoes were made in the Rapid City and Rivers area, around 220 kilometres west of Winnipeg, and near St. Alphonse, around 150 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, he said.
There were no reports of tornadoes around Morden-Winkler, but the area did get hit by damaging winds and golf ball-sized hail, he said.
Storm chaser Jordan Carruthers, who lives in Portage la Prairie, MB, said he saw four tornadoes on Wednesday, including the one that hit Swan Lake.
“This season could be a lot more active just due to all the moisture we have had this spring,” he said.
Manitoba has averaged seven tornadoes a year over the past few years.
PHOTO CAPTION: This destroyed building and the equipment it was sheltering on a farm near St. Alphonse were some of the victims discovered after the storm passed through the area last week. PHOTO BY SUZANNE PADDOCK
