Canada Day storm brings golf-ball sized hail, strong wind gusts, severe thunderstorms to parts of Saskatchewan

A Canada Day storm brought severe weather to parts of Saskatchewan.

Environment Canada meteorologist Dan Fulton says the conditions came from a low pressure system that started in Alberta. The conditions prompted a severe thunderstorm warning for Western Central Saskatchewan on Saturday afternoon.

"We got quite a few reports of some pretty big hail there, some golf-ball sized hail near Meadow Lake," Fulton said. 

"Also we got some severe wind gusts as that system came through."

Fulton said wind gusts exceeded 100 km/h in areas east of Prince Albert, while they reached 97 km/h in North Battleford and 87 km/h in Saskatoon. 

Fulton added the low pressure system brought a tornado to central Alberta that destroyed houses and led to lost livestock.

"This is pretty much peak season right now for severe weather in the Prairies, so the [storm] was not uncommon," Fulton said.

"We're just lucky it didn't do more damage last night [in Saskatchewan], there certainly was a lot of potential there." 

Fulton added that the storm downed trees and caused power outages in areas of Saskatchewan. He said the storm brought potential for some damage to infrastructure in parts of the province. 

Power outages across the province 

As of noon on Sunday, there were about 8,000 SaskPower customers without power. 

Scott McGregor, a spokesperson for SaskPower, says at the height of the storm there were 20,000 customers experiencing outages. 

"We have crews working in all the affected districts," Scott McGregor, a spokesperson for SaskPower said. "So depending on what area customers may be in, we should have a good chunk of the customers back on by tonight."

McGregor noted that there is no estimated time of restoration for the Nipawin area yet — where about 5,000 customers are experiencing outages.

He added that the widespread area of the storm is affecting SaskPower's ability to speak to customers over the phone. 

"Since the storms started last night, our outage centre has received over 13,000 calls," McGregor said. " By virtue of how many calls our system can take and how many people can take those calls, it might be creating a bit of a longer wait time." 

Janelle Barkman lives on an acreage outside of Warman, Sask. Her family of seven has been without power for about 14 hours and doesn't know when they'll get it restored because she's had trouble getting in contact with SaskPower. 

"That's quite frustrating just not being able to know a time,"  Barkman says. "I've just been sitting in my car charging my phone because I have no other way to charge it and yet you need your phone for them to call you, because we're in a rural area."

"A lot of times we have to give directions and we need to guide them back there."

Barkman says she is appreciative of all the work SaskPower is doing to restore power around the province, but would like to see improved communication because she is worried about her food in the fridge and freezer and when their toilets will be usable again. 

McGregor says people should either report outages online or keep calling because it's important that SaskPower has all the outages on the books so it can restore power for all customers.

He added that if anyone comes across downed lines or damaged infrastructure to stay back a safe distance and call SaskPower immediately. 

As of Sunday at 3:20 p.m, there was an SaskTel outage in and around Shoal Lake. Internet, wireless and landline services were all impacted by the outage caused by the storm. 

"It was brutal"

John Brady McDonald was driving on Saturday evening to pick up  his daughters from work at a restaurant in Christopher Lake — about 40 kilometres north of Prince Albert — when he noticed the sky turning darker. 

He says the conditions turned brutal once they were driving back from the restaurant.

"It looked like footage from the great depression, it was a pretty big wall of dust flying in, the sky went black and it was sustained for about five to six minutes of solid wind," McDonald said. 

"Tree branches were coming down, we watched the power go out, the car was getting pelted with sand, I had my hand out the window, it felt like I had my hand in a sand blaster." 

McDonald says climate change is making these severe storms more common.  He noted that hail from a storm earlier this week damaged his garden. 

"My biggest fear is that we become used to this and that desire to continue to work for a better and healthier planet goes away."

Severe weather is expected to continue in some parts of Saskatchewan. A rainfall warning is in effect for the La Loche area as the region is expecting 60 millimetres by Monday morning.