Winter has fallen in parts of Manitoba. So have many trees.
Environment Canada issued a snowfall warning early Monday morning saying a major winter storm rolling through parts of northern Manitoba was expected to bring in excess of 30 centimetres to some areas by the time it was done.
The hardest hit areas were expected to be along a line from Flin Flon through Thompson. For other areas in the warning region, general snowfall amounts of 10-25 cm were expected, the weather agency said.
Specifically, Wabowden and Pukatawagan were expected to receive 20-plus centimetres, while Lynn Lake was expected to see 5-10 cm.
“It’s wet, heavy snow. It’s just hard slugging … to get anywhere,” said Stuart McDowell, who lives in The Pas. He says “there’s a lot of downed trees and a lot of downed branches” around the town.
“When I go home from work today, it’ll be a bit of cleanup and then assess the front yard and see what needs to get done on my days off coming up. “
Manitoba Hydro is dealing with broken power poles, like these ones in the northern Interlake region, from the heavy snow. (Manitoba Hydro/Bluesky)
Northerly winds were gusting up to 50 or 60 km/h, giving poor visibility at times with blowing snow, and Environment Canada said highway closures were almost certain. People were warned not to travel if possible in the affected areas, the warning said.
Highway 391, from Leaf Rapids to Nelson House, was also closed Monday due to poor driving conditions, along with Highway 280, from Thompson to Split Lake.
“We had a fairly intense storm move from Montana, kind of tracked along the Manitoba–Saskatchewan border [Sunday] as it moved north,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Dan Fulton.
“And it brought some pretty substantial rain to parts of the province, but then it transitioned into snow over northern Manitoba as the system kind of tapped some colder air. So, some pretty heavy snow going through northern Manitoba right now.”
Snow covers trees and hydro power lines after a snowstorm on Monday. (Manitoba Hydro/Bluesky)
Elissa Bogdan, co-owner of Wekusko Falls Lodge, about 10 kilometres northeast of The Pas, said there’s going to be a lot of tree removal required in order for the roads to reopen in that area.
“Once the rain started to turn to snow, it got pretty heavy and wet. We lost power late in the evening and then with the silence in the homes, it was pretty easy to hear the trees starting to crack,” she said.
“We have a renter in one of our places up the road who asked me this morning who was shooting guns last night. And I said it wasn’t guns shooting, it was trees falling. She was really surprised at how loud it was.”
A vehicle is covered in snow and branches at Wekusko Falls Lodge. (Wekusko Falls Lodge/Facebook)
The town of Snow Lake, 15 kilometres south of Wekusko, posted a message on Facebook on Monday, asking residents to conserve water where possible, saying the generator powering the water treatment plant had run out of fuel, and a refueling truck was on the way but struggling due to the heavy snowfall.
Power outages
The weather also created havoc for Manitoba Hydro, which said there were outages Monday throughout eastern, northern and western Manitoba, affecting about 11,000 customers.
Wind, rain and trees making contact with wires have caused damage to lines, poles and other equipment, according to spokesperson Peter Chura.
“We have crews making their way from outage to outage but it will take time to find and make repairs in such a wide area. I can’t provide an estimated time for restoration.”
Crews will focus on repairs that will impact the most customers at once, so there could be extended outages through the day and into the night, as they make their way around, Chura said.
Bogdan said the Wekusko Falls Lodge has been without power since about 9 p.m. Sunday, “and I’m not really sure how long that will last, but we are ourselves are preparing for a day or two without power.
“We’re thankful it’s not freezing temperatures, so we’re able to stay warm in our homes with very little power supply. But definitely people are going to be looking for hot food and warm showers somewhere.”
There is a silver lining in all the white stuff, however, Bogdan said.
“We were so dry all summer and we had a terrible fire season and we really needed the moisture,” she said.
“In spite of all of the damage — it would have been nicer if it came in the form of rain — we are thankful for the moisture because we really, really needed it.”
