Severe winds and lightning plunge thousands into darkness across southern Manitoba

Fierce winds sweeping southern Manitoba on Wednesday night reached speeds of 133 km/h in Brandon, the strongest recorded across the province, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Terri Lang. The same system generated 2,916 lightning strikes within 50 kilometres of Winnipeg, bringing down trees and snapping power lines. Manitoba Hydro spokesperson Peter Chura said the storm caused 500 separate outages, leaving about 28,000 customers in the dark, with the worst damage concentrated in Winnipeg’s southern neighborhoods and nearby towns such as Portage la Prairie and St. Adolphe.

Crews are still evaluating the extent of pole failures, equipment fires and other infrastructure damage. Residents like Jim and Mona Hardy reported multiple trees felled on their property, including a 20-metre cottonwood. Arborist Pierre Duguay received 25 calls by midday to clear debris, underscoring the unusually active storm period this summer.