A tornado warning issued for parts of southeastern Manitoba on Monday has been changed to a severe thunderstorm warning, Environment Canada says.
The thunderstorm warning is now in place for the following communities:
- Buffalo Point Reserve and Northwest Angle Provincial Forest.
- Falcon Lake and West Hawk Lake.
- Municipality of Rhineland, including Altona, Plum Coulee and Gretna.
- Rural municipality of Piney, including Sandilands and Sprague.
- Rural municipality of Reynolds, including Ste. Rita, Hadashville and Rennie.
- Rural municipality of Stanley, including Winkler and Morden.
- Rural municipality of Whitemouth, including Elma.
- Shoal Lake Reserves.
A number of those communities were previously under a tornado warning.
The severe thunderstorm warning comes as meteorologists track a line of severe thunderstorms stretching from Elma and Prawda to the international border and moving east at 60 km/h, the weather agency said in an alert.
Those storms could bring wind gusts over 100 km/h and quarter-sized hail.
“Our slogan is when it roars, go indoors, so follow that,” Natalie Hasell, warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, told CBC’s Up to Speed host Faith Fundal on Monday.
“Get there as quickly as you can, stay there as long as necessary, which is typically 30 minutes after the last rumble.”
Environment Canada’s alert included reminders that large hail can damage property and cause injury, and that strong wind gusts can toss loose objects, damage weak buildings, break branches off trees and overturn large vehicles.
Hasell added people should also avoid using a cellphone while it’s plugged in to charge, and to avoid using landline phones or computers that are plugged in.
She said anyone who encounters a storm while driving should seek shelter if possible.
If not, they should pull off the road, get out of their vehicle and find a low-lying area to wait in to reduce their risk of being injured by lightning or flying debris. However, she said to avoid lying in ditches, which are designed to fill up quickly with water.
Several municipalities in southeastern Manitoba are also under severe thunderstorm watches.