Trash bins are strewn about this Southeast Hill area laneway after winds that reach 100 km/h arrived in Medicine Hat during the early morning hours on Tuesday. - News Photo Collin Gallant
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Wind gusts of up to 100 km/h overnight tossed garbage cans in Medicine Hat and made driving treacherous in the region to start the week, but did relatively little damage in the Hat.
Environment Canada issued wind warnings Monday afternoon for much of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, with poor driving conditions arriving that evening in the western parts of the province.
Sustained wind speeds of about 50 km/h were felt in the Hat in the evening, but rose to gust of 100 km/h at 3 a.m. Tuesday. They subsided until mid afternoon that day when they again rose above 80 km/h.
The City of Medicine Hat’s solid waste utility advised residents to check on their garbage and recycling bins as well as shingles and trees.
Periods of snow were expected later Tuesday, leading to potential for whiteout conditions with blowing snow. The wind warning of most of Eastern Alberta was expected to expire that evening.
Power outages were reported around the noon hour Tuesday in large portions of Southwest Saskatchewan.
Areas east of Maple Creek, south of the Cypress Hills, north of Gull Lake, surrounding Shaunavon, and northeast of Swift Current all reported outages near noon.
In Southeast Alberta, Fortis reported problems for a relatively small number of customers near Schuler, Grassy Lake, and rural customers near Bow Island and Taber.
The RCMP in Taber issued a travel advisory against driving on Highway 36 south of the town, and closed the Chin Coulee bridge for a time.
Higway 61, near Foremost, was reported as ice covered at that time.
