Thunderstorms bring rain, ‘hen egg-sized’ hail to southern Manitoba

Southern Manitoba was slammed with another round of thunderstorms Saturday, soaking some parts of the province and hailing in others.

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Sidney, Man., east of Carberry, received “hen egg-sized” hail, while golf ball-sized hail fell in St. Malo.

Those near Netley saw nearly 30 millimetres of rainfall, and people living in Matlock got just over 20 mm.

Morris received 33 mm of rain, ECCC reported.

Earlier Saturday, ECCC issued tornado warnings for Neepawa and the Interlake region, but they were later downgraded to severe thunderstorm warnings.

Photos shared on social media and submitted to CTV News showed dark cloud coverage over Gimli and Lake Winnipeg Saturday afternoon.

“The storms did start collapsing and weakening as they approached the east side of the lake,” said Justin Shaer, ECCC meteorologist. “And of course, with that, you get some strong outflows, and you can get a shelf cloud and outflow clouds, and that’s kind of what was happening with those very photogenic pictures.”

As storms weaken, they can create shelf clouds or outflow clouds, as pictured here in Gimli, Man., on July 13, 2024. (Submitted by Marno Olafson)

While the gloomy skies brought strong wind gusts, Shaer said ECCC didn’t receive any reports of severe weather in the area.

In terms of the future forecast, Shaer said southern Manitoba isn’t in the clear just yet.

“We can see some nocturnal thunderstorm activity over southern Manitoba tonight,” he said. “Tomorrow, it’s a bit quieter.”