Saskatoon feels the impact of strong winds

Strong wind gusts caused havoc Monday morning across central Saskatchewan with downed trees, scattered patio furniture and numerous power outages.

Environment Canada meteorologist Brad Vrolijk said Saskatoon recorded the strongest wind gust in the province at 95 kilometres per hour. Kindersley topped out at 93 km/h, while the wind was clocked at 87 km/h in Rosetown.

“The strongest winds have been in the west that have moved in through the overnight period …,” Vrolijk said. “The winds will diminish a lot more this afternoon and by tonight the winds should be back to light, in the 15 to 25 kilometres an hour range.”

A wind warning for Saskatoon was dropped around 7:30 a.m. Others than were in effect for the Prince Albert and Melfort areas also were removed Monday morning.

People took to social media to describe the damage in their neighbourhoods.

“Saw a lot of shingles off roofs in Warman Sunday afternoon. I can only imagine how many more roofs were damaged when it peaked near 100km/hr,” Chris Wood wrote on Facebook.

95K winds no joke for this vehicle on Lorne Ave. #yxe pic.twitter.com/3gxrBT7hh5

— Brent Bosker (@brentbosker) June 1, 2020

Saskatoon Light and Power began receiving calls of outages at 4 a.m. and, by 8 a.m., crews were still working to restore power to several west-side neighbourhoods.

SaskPower crews were also busy with outages in the Lakeview and Lakeridge neighbourhoods, as well as Riverside Estates and Langham.