Sunday marks another stormy night in Saskatchewan
Estevan's main roads were 'like rivers'
A majority of the province was under a storm watch Sunday, but it was the southeast region that was hit particularly hard.
The Estevan, Sask., area experienced heavy hail and torrential downpour Sunday afternoon.
Samuel Lapierre lives on Valley Street in Estevan, and as of 6 p.m. CST he remained inside waiting for the power outage to end and the streets to clear.
"There was so much hail, up to toonie-sized hail," he said, adding the rainwater flooded his basement and pooled in his backyard. "You could see it running like a river from the driveway down to the street."
The heaviest part of the storm lasted for about 45 minutes, he said, adding it has been ongoing for hours.
Although the storm began to calm, the rain persisted.
"The main roads are like rivers," Lapierre said.
The storm that settled near the city displayed unusual behaviour by remaining so still for multiple hours, said James Cummine, with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).
"It's very unusual. It's almost like it's anchored on right at the point of entry at the border," he said, referencing the city's close proximity to North Dakota. "It's just kind of sitting there."
He said ECCC expected the storm to track northeast and move into Manitoba late in the evening.
Tornado watch
As for tornadoes, Cummine said he heard several reports of funnel clouds in the province, but at the time they weren't the main concern.
Cummine noted there was one report of a 20-second tornado touching down near Humboldt, Sask.
"Most of these funnel clouds are brief in seconds," he said, adding they are less threatening to people.
That's why storms like the one settled over Estevan are so concerning, because it is concentrated in a populated area.
The main problem for the province will be the more typical kind of prairie weather.
"It's the slow moving rain that's actually going to cause the most grief to the most people," he said.
On Sunday afternoon, ECCC issued a blanket statement in anticipation of heavy rainfall across the province.
Several severe thunderstorm warnings were also issued throughout the day.