High winds knock out power in southern Manitoba Sunday

Manitoba Hydro is warning of multiple power outages throughout southern Manitoba, including in Winnipeg, as winds were expected to gust as high as 90 kilometres per hour on Sunday.

Around 1:15 p.m. on Sunday, Manitoba Hydro posted on its X account that the utility was seeing power outages in southern Manitoba that affected more than 4,000 customers.

The Crown corporation said the outages, which include several in the city of Winnipeg, were due to the high winds that battered much of southern Manitoba on Sunday. 

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) issued a wind warning early Sunday morning for parts of southern Manitoba, saying strong winds, with gusts of up to 90 kilometres per hour capable of causing damage, were expected Sunday afternoon. 

The warning says winds were expected to build up Sunday morning, and they were expecting severe wind gusts on Sunday afternoon. Wind speeds were expected to begin diminishing early Sunday evening. 

They also warned that wind speeds on Sunday had the potential to cause damage to roofs, fences, branches or soft shelters, and residents in affected areas should secure loose objects if possible. 

By around 3:45 p.m. on Sunday, all wind-related alerts in southern Manitoba had ended, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Manitoba Hydro posted an update on X around 2:50 p.m. on Sunday, saying it had crews working through the outages, and that close to 1,000 customers had power restored. 

Hydro added that with reports of trees on lines, crews were carefully working to restore power as safely as possible, and thanked customers for their patience.

Manitoba Hydro’s most recent power outage information can be found here.