After 3 Tornadoes Yesterday — Hail, Thunderstorm & Flash Flood Threat Return to Manitoba Tonight

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]Three confirmed tornadoes touched down across southern Manitoba just yesterday afternoon. And tonight another round of severe thunderstorms is already firing up across the province. Environment Canada has active severe weather alerts for portions of southern Manitoba. Check weather.gc.ca for the latest status with wind gusts near 90 to 120 km/h still on the table today. And we are not done yet. A second severe wave is building through this afternoon and into tonight. So let's get right into it. This is your complete Manitoba weather breakdown for Wednesday, June 3rd. Good morning, everyone, and welcome back to the channel. What a night it has been.

[00:00:40]If you were anywhere in southern Manitoba yesterday, you know it's you know exactly what I'm talking about.

[00:00:45]Three confirmed tornadoes, 6 cm hail, and wind gusts to 120 km/h all in a single afternoon. Three tornadoes confirmed by Environment and Climate Change Canada ECC on Tuesday afternoon and evening. Tennis ball-sized hail confirmed west of Balder, 6 cm in diameter, according to Environment Canada. And the system is not finished.

[00:01:07]We have a full second wave coming through this afternoon and tonight.

[00:01:12]Let's take a look at what is happening right now and then walk through the full forecast for today. First, the active warnings, and there are several of them you need to know about right now.

[00:01:23]Environment Canada has severe thunderstorm alerts covering portions of southern Manitoba, including a risk for large hail and damaging winds.

[00:01:31]Conditions remain favorable for severe thunderstorm development through Wednesday afternoon and evening across the south. Within those thunderstorms, we are talking wind gusts near 90 to 120 km/h.

[00:01:45]Hail up to 4 to 6 cm and rainfall rates of 30 to 50 mm per hour locally. So on top of the thunderstorm watch, Environment Canada has also issued a fog advisory for Winnipeg. Near zero visibility in dense fog across the Red River Valley, that advisory is in effect right now. If you are heading out on the Perimeter Highway or the Trans-Canada this morning, please be very careful.

[00:02:08]Visibility can drop to essentially nothing with almost no s-warning.

[00:02:11]Environment Canada advises travel will likely be hazardous. So, according to Environment Canada, that fog advisory is expected to remain in place with the fog lifting Friday morning. And then we have a flooding concern developing across eastern and southeastern Manitoba as of this morning.

[00:02:28]The ground is already saturated from Tuesday's storms. It has very limited capacity to absorb more rainfall today.

[00:02:35]With another significant rainfall event possible today, low-lying areas and road underpasses are at elevated risk.

[00:02:42]We're watching Steinbach, Pinawa, Fort Alexander, and the Winnipeg Metro area particularly closely today. Now, let's talk about what actually happened yesterday because it sets up everything we are seeing today.

[00:02:54]The atmosphere over the prairies became exceptionally unstable through Tuesday afternoon. And here is why. Shortwave trough, that is a disturbance in the upper atmosphere, moved through southern Manitoba and North Dakota. That combined with strong wind shear, meaning winds changing speed and direction with altitude above the ground. Add in steep lapse rates, temperatures falling rapidly with height, and you have the conditions for supercell storms. That is exactly what developed across southern Manitoba through Tuesday afternoon, classic supercell thunderstorms.

[00:03:27]According to ECCC, a brief tornado was confirmed at approximately 4:30 in the afternoon near Manitou.

[00:03:33]That is about 123 km southwest of Winnipeg, confirmed through social media video. The second and third confirmed tornadoes were spotted about 45 minutes later south of Carman. That is approximately 75 km southwest of Winnipeg, also confirmed through video posted online. Video posted on social media appeared to show two twisters on the ground at the same time south of Carman. ECCC says all three tornadoes were identified through video evidence posted on social media by the public. There was also a report of a possible tornado near Dauphin.

[00:04:08]Environment Canada said it did not have enough evidence to confirm it.

[00:04:12]Additional reports of possible funnel clouds came in from near Deerwood, Moose Horn, Miami, and the Lake Winnipeg area.

[00:04:19]Those reports have not been officially confirmed by ECCC as of this morning.

[00:04:23]Investigations are ongoing.

[00:04:25]The hail, 6 cm in diameter west of Balder, confirmed by Environment Canada Tuesday evening. And wind gusts and storm cores were confirmed at 90 to 120 km/h by ECCC. So, power outages were widespread across southern Manitoba with Manitoba Hydro crews working through the night to restore power. Now, one of the most interesting aspects of this event, and I want to walk you through the storm structure carefully. Thunderstorms initially developed in the United States before moving into southwestern Manitoba on Tuesday afternoon. They quickly intensified on the Canadian side of the border and prompted a series of severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings. Those isolated storms then evolved into widespread clusters by early evening tracking northeast through Winnipeg and the Interlake. According to the Weather Network, conditions stabilized after the main system passed, ending the extreme heat of the day. Now, tracking the storm activity overnight using the ECMWF thunderstorm layer, which measures lightning strike density per square kilometer, this data comes from the ECMWF model, not an official ECCC observation, but it gives a useful picture. Six early this morning around 6:00 a.m., the remnant storm complex was still showing very high lightning activity over Winnipeg. By 7:00 a.m., the windy thunderstorm layer showed an intense cluster centered over the Winnipeg and Gunton area. If you were awake at 7:00 this morning in Winnipeg, you would have experienced a very active lightning period. After that morning peak, the system began tracking northeast as expected, consistent with the ECCC forecast guidance. So, by 9:00 a.m., the heaviest activity had shifted up toward Wanipigow and Fort Alexander on the eastern side. By 10:00 a.m., Berens River and the eastern shores of Lake Winnipeg became the primary focus of activity. Southern Manitoba, including Winnipeg and the Trans-Canada Corridor, got a brief window of improvement through the morning, but ECCC had already flagged the potential for afternoon redevelopment in their day two thunderstorm outlook. And around midday, new storm activity began to develop, consistent with what the models had been showing. Now, here is the part of today's forecast that I really need you to pay attention to if you are in southern Manitoba.

[00:06:39]The ECCC thunderstorm outlook for Wednesday afternoon through midnight, the day two outlook, remains significant. The area covering Winnipeg and eastern Manitoba is rated at high for severe weather risks this afternoon and evening. A high risk in this context means ECC is confident seeing wind gusts to 90 km/h today. Hail up to 2 and 1/2 to 3 cm and accumulated rainfall around 50 mm is possible. That is on top of already saturated ground, which is why local flooding concerns are elevated for tonight. The western Manitoba area around Dauphin is rated low risk, but still warrants monitoring through the afternoon. Now, let me walk through the timing so you know when the most significant conditions are expected in your area.

[00:07:24]Through the morning hours, the fog advisory remains the primary concern across Winnipeg and the Red River Valley.

[00:07:30]Temperatures are sitting around 17°C this morning, rising to a daytime high near 23°C this afternoon.

[00:07:37]By midday and into the early afternoon, Winnipeg should see some temporary improvement as storm activity shifts north. But that residual warmth and humidity through the afternoon is what ECC says will fuel the second round of storms.

[00:07:51]According to the weather network, disorganized thunderstorms will move into south-central Manitoba by the early afternoon.

[00:07:58]Intensity will increase through the late afternoon and evening, and that is the window you need to be ready for. By the afternoon hours, we're talking roughly 2:00 to 6:00 p.m., the severe thunderstorm risk increases across eastern Manitoba. Steinbach, Lac du Bonnet, Pinawa, and communities east of Winnipeg are in the primary risk zone this afternoon. According to ETCC's day two outlook, the environment won't be as potent as Tuesday, but still dangerous.

[00:08:24]Large hail and strong wind remain the primary threats today. The tornado risk is significantly reduced compared to yesterday. Tonight, and this is something to watch closely, a second wave of activity is expected to develop across the province. The slow-moving low-pressure system is expected to inch eastward over Manitoba through Wednesday, per the weather network. That continued low pressure, combined with residual instability, supports additional storm development tonight.

[00:08:52]With the ground already saturated, any significant rainfall tonight will increase the local flash flooding risk.

[00:08:58]And I would recommend avoiding travel on low-lying roads and through underpasses across southern Manitoba after dark tonight. Now, let's talk about what Manitoba's Hydrologic Forecast Centre is showing for accumulated precipitation totals. Their HRDPS model run at noon Tuesday gives us a 48-hour accumulated precipitation picture for the province.

[00:09:19]Southeastern Manitoba, areas like Steinbach, Pinawa, and Fort Alexander are looking at 90 to 110 mm. Winnipeg Metro is forecast at 80 to 100 mm for the full two-day period ending Thursday morning. The Interlake region, Arborg, Berens River, Grand Rapids is forecast at 50 to 80 mm for the same period.

[00:09:40]Brandon and Portage la Prairie are looking at 25 to 50 mm, lower but still meaningful on saturated ground. These are model forecasts. Actual totals will depend heavily on where the heaviest storms set up tonight. Check Manitoba 511, that's mb511.ca for road condition updates throughout the day and evening. Now, let's look at the rest of the week because there is genuinely some good news on the extended forecast. Thursday, June 4th, high near 19° C, mostly cloudy, just 20% chance of lingering showers.

[00:10:13]The severe weather threat should be essentially over by Thursday morning once the system exits into northwestern Ontario. Thursday will still be a day for damage assessment, cleanup, and monitoring any flooded roadways across the south. Friday, June 5th is looking much better. High near 22° C, mostly sunny, 20% rain chance.

[00:10:33]The fog advisory should finally lift Friday morning and we should see some genuine sunshine return to the province.

[00:10:40]Saturday, June 6th looking at a high near 29° C with a very low precipitation chance.

[00:10:46]Full sunshine is expected across Manitoba on Saturday. It will feel like a completely different week by the weekend. Keep in mind those extended forecasts beyond Friday are still subject to change. Check weather.gc.ca for updates.

[00:10:59]All right, let's take a moment to put this entire event into context because it is genuinely significant weather.

[00:11:06]In roughly 24 hours, southern Manitoba experienced three confirmed tornadoes, 6 cm hail, and widespread outages.

[00:11:13]Wind gusts confirmed at 90 to 120 km/h and rainfall rates of 30 to 50 mm/h.

[00:11:21]A classic prairie severe weather setup, supercell storms driven by an upper-level shortwave trough and strong instability.

[00:11:28]Southerly flow bringing warm, moist air deep into the Canadian prairies ahead of a slow-moving low-pressure system. The conditions today are less extreme than yesterday, but the saturated ground and continued low pressure keep risk elevated. Now, if you need to report severe weather today or tonight, you can email [email protected].

[00:11:48]You can call 1-800-239-0484 or post on social media using hashtag MBstorm. For the latest warnings and watches, check weather.gc.ca or download the Weather Can app on your phone. For the road conditions across Manitoba, mb511.ca is your best resource throughout today and tonight. This remains a developing weather situation across southern Manitoba. The story continues through tonight and into Thursday. I will have an updated video posted Thursday morning with overnight results and the latest conditions across the province.

[00:12:22]If you want to catch that update, please hit the like button and subscribe to the channel right now. Turn on notifications so you get the alert the moment that video goes live. This situation warrants staying informed. Thank you for watching. Stay off the roads if you can tonight. Stay indoors during any storms and stay informed. I'll see you in the next one. Stay safe out there, Manitoba.