Tornado watches end, severe thunderstorm warnings and watches still in effect for southeastern Manitoba

UPDATE:Thunderstorm watch placed on much of southwestern Manitoba

A tornado threat has ended asstormy conditionscontinueunfolding in parts of southern Manitoba Sunday evening, according to Environment Canada.

In online weather alerts, Environment Canadahad issued tornado watches because the weather conditions were looking favourable for the development of severe thunderstorms that could produce tornadoesaround Morden,Winkler and Steinbach, Man. In a series of tweets, thosetornado watches were lifted, as of 7:15 p.m. Sunday evening.

The weather agency has issued a few severe thunderstorm warnings and several watches that remain in effect in southeastern Manitobafrom the international border toas far north as the southern shores of Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg. Manitobansin those areas should be cautious of possiblehail, strong winds and heavy rain.

Environment Canada said meteorologists are tracking a line of severe thunderstorms capable of producing quarter to loonie-sized hail, wind gusting more than 90 km/h, and rainfall in excess of 50 mm in some areas. At 8:50 p.m., Doppler radar indicated this line of storms stretched from Emerson to Falcon Lakewas moving northeast at approximately 20 km/h.

Severe thunderstorm warnings are still in effect for the southeastern-most pocket of the province. A watch becomes a warning when severe weather is occurring or imminent, according to the agency's website.

Severe thunderstorm warnings in effect for:

• Municipalityof Emerson-Franklin, includingRoseau River.
• Rural municipality of De Salaberry, includingSt-Pierre-Jolys and St. Malo.
• RMof Hanover, includingSteinbach,Niverville and Grunthal.
• RMof La Broquerie, includingMarchand.
• RMof Stuartburn, includingZhoda, Vita and Sundown.
• Buffalo Point Reserveand Northwest Angle ProvincialForest.
• Falcon Lake and West Hawk Lake.
• RMof Reynolds, includingSte. Rita,Hadashville and Rennie.
• Shoal Lake Reserves.
• Municipalityof Rhineland, includingAltona, Plum Coulee and Gretna.
• RMof Montcalm, includingSt. Jean Baptiste.

TheU.S. National Weather Service in Grands Forks, N.D.,held a special weather briefing on Sunday afternoon to discuss the potential for intense conditions including tornadoes, hail, wind and flash floods south of the border around the Red River region.

Tornado outlooks this high are uncommon, typically occurring once a year to every five years, according to the weather service's online briefing.

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