Homes, fields in western Manitoba pummelled by 'massive' hail
Rachel Bergen | CBC News | Posted: June 8, 2023 7:53 PM | Last Updated: June 8, 2023
Environment Canada briefly issued tornado warning Wednesday, along with severe thunderstorm warnings
A western Manitoba farmer is questioning his standing with a higher power after a storm pummelled his community with heavy hail, strong winds and rain Wednesday evening.
"God tried to clear Oak River off the map," wrote Eric McLean, a grain farmer and seed grower in the rural municipality of Blanshard, in a social media post on Wednesday evening.
Environment Canada got reports of hail as large as softballs in that area, along with heavy rain and winds gusting to more than 100 kilometres per hour, prompting the weather agency to briefly issue a tornado warning.
McLean told CBC the combination wreaked havoc on his fields and did even more damage in the area surrounding Oak River, which is about 50 kilometres northwest of Brandon, Man.
A baseball game was going on during the storm, and the dugout boxes on the visiting team's side were picked up by the winds.
The players "quickly got out of it and it tumbled away and and disintegrated as it tumbled itself along," McLean said in an interview with CBC News on Thursday.
"They took shelter in their local Oak River community complex to weather the storm. It was just a terrible event that manifested itself."
The farmer says friends who live nearby saw tree limbs fall on their vehicles and siding basically disintegrate in the hail.
His fields, which had 15-centimetre-high plants, are now in ruin.
"They look like parking lots. There is no foliation. All the foliation on the top of the of the plants has been stripped off and washed down with the heavy rain," said McLean.
"So basically, the fields have gone back down to a basic double to to black soil."
He's now left with some tough choices about whether he will replant this late in the season or not.
"It's been quite a 24 hours for us anyways, in terms of trying to see what's going on. And it's hard not to feel emotionally exhausted."
Natalie Hasell, a warning preparedness meteorologist for Environment Canada, says she wouldn't be surprised to hear about injuries associated with this storm.
"We have a report of golf ball-size hail near Rivers [about 30 kilometres northwest of Brandon, and] also of Ping-Pong ball-sized hail by there as well, and then by Oak River we've had a report of softball-sized hail, which is massive — huge for southern Manitoba," she said.
There have been no reports of funnel clouds associated with the weather system.
However, the severe weather isn't over for the area.
As of mid-afternoon Thursday, severe thunderstorm watches were in effect for a large swath of the province, from southwestern Manitoba to the Interlake region and northeastern parts of the province, Environment Canada said.
Strong winds, large hail and heavy rains could hit those areas, with conditions favourable for the development of dangerous thunderstorms, the weather agency said.
Hasell said the damage in Oak River is a good reminder of how dangerous these storms can be.
"Stay away from the windows, the doors, the skylights, especially if we're talking about a hail scenario," she said.
"If we're talking about a strong wind scenario, we want you either in a basement or in a small interior room with as many walls between you and the outside [as possible]."
She warns people that vehicles or RVs aren't adequate shelter in severe weather.
"We had a car actually flipped over in this event yesterday," Hasell said. "That does tell you that maybe staying in a car is not the best option when we're dealing with strong winds and flying debris."
Hasell says people can report serious weather and weather-related injuries to MBstorm@ec.gc.ca or tweet reports using the hashtag #MBStorm.