Dustin Gill
Rogue shopping carts cause damage in a parking lot during Wednesdays wind storm.
Residents of Moose Jaw experienced some extreme weather throughout Tuesday evening and Wednesday afternoon. According to Weather Network meteorologist Elena Lappo the wind began to pick up late Tuesday with wind gusts reaching up to 72 kilometers per hour and peaked mid Wednesday with gusts reaching up to 85 kilometers per hour. “It really depends whether there is a low system moving through or if there is something going on in the atmosphere,” says Lappo, “so why you were seeing such strong winds yesterday and are still seeing them today is because you do have a low pressure system moving through and currently this system is just to the east of Saskatchewan over Manitoba. So you are just at the backside of the system and are getting all the northerly winds.”
Those northerly winds kept the City of Moose Jaw’s Parks and Engineering departments busy Wednesday as they responded to incidences throughout the community. “Every time there is a wind storm, etc., we’re always going to get called out and there are various trees or branches that will get blown down around the city and today is one of those days,” said Kelly Mentanko, Operations Manager for the city of Moose Jaw, Wednesday. “I know we’ve got a few calls in from residence indicating that there are downed boulevard trees or branches laying on the street, so we go out and clean that up as soon as possible,” said Mentanko adding that Moose Jaw is a city with a lot of urban forestry making wind a factor to be dealt with in such circumstances.
“The thing that usually hits us with high winds is our traffic control lights,” said Moose Jaw Public Works Manager Duane Grado. Wednesdays winds were no exception, causing minor damage to traffic lights, “right at the corner of Main and Fairford, the traffic head, where you read the green, yellow and red lights, had to be straitened out and screwed tighter.” Even though no pedestrians were injured by falling street lights or trees, Environment Canada meteorologist Natalie Hasell says that these are risks that should not be underestimated.
For more on this article pick up Thurdays edition of the Times-Herald.
Dustin Gill
