Peak wind gust hits 145 km/h in southern Alberta, 9 all-time records set
After truck toppling winds roared through extreme southern Alberta on Tuesday, another day of damaging -- and more widespread -- wind impact accompanied a potent clipper system through the day on Wednesday.
A peak wind gust of 145 km/h was reported on a personal weather station in Taber, Alberta Wednesday afternoon, with significant damage reported in the town and surrounding area.
"The gusts recorded in the Taber area today would register at EF-1 on the Enhanced Fujita scale used to rate tornado damage," said Environment Canada in the storm summary.
The storm also knocked out power across southern Alberta, including for major cities like Lethbridge and Medicine Hat. In Calgary, the fire department deployed crews in an effort to clear fallen trees from power lines and damage to buildings through the region. The winds were also enough to take down big rigs once again, especially over open and exposed highways.
"There were 55 weather stations that reported winds of more than 100 km/h, and nine all-time January records set for the powerful gusts," says Weather Network meteorologist Matt Grinter.
It wasn't just the severe winds that caused problems across the province either, as a swath of snow created dangerous blizzard conditions through eastern sections on Wednesday afternoon. Complete whiteouts were reported at Lloydminster and for areas south and near the Saskatchewan border.
All of the storm warnings have now been dropped in Alberta as the system continues its trek eastward, but it'll likely be days of clean-up after the damaging impact from this mid-week clipper.
