Windy rain pelts communities as southern Manitoba braces for snow

Whatever window of opportunity there was for barbecuing and outside fun this May long weekend is gone, as communities across southern Manitoba get pummelled by rain and winds Sunday afternoon.

• Gale-force winds, Lake Winnipeg waves batter Gimli area
• Southern Manitoba power outages result of wet, high winds, Hydro says

Between 20 and 30 millimetres of rain is expected to turn to five to 10 centimetres ofice pellets and then snow by Sunday evening. Northeast winds gusted to roughly80 kilometres an houras temperatures in Winnipeg fellto the 0 C rangein the afternoon.

Environment Canada has issued a warning to the city, which says winds could gust rightup to 90 km/h. The province has issued warnings for Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba, which say that wind could raise levels by five feet or more.

Meteorologist Justin Hobson says the wind will continue throughout the day.

"So once the heavy rain ... You know, it's already been occurring and the ground is saturated, so you add the winds to that. It might actually take some trees down, too."

Meanwhile, communitiesacross southern Manitoba have been plagued by rolling power outagesHydro said could get worse with evening snow and high winds.

Gimlierosion fears

Gimli Mayor Randy Woroniuk said people in the communityare worried waterfront properties could be damaged from high waves on windswept Lake Winnipeg Sunday.

"I'm sure there is going to be concern about shoreline erosion and we do have a bit of a concern by the library," he said. "We've created some sand dikes."

Woroniuk said thedikes will prevent rain from draining and flooding along Fourth Avenue.

Over at Winnipeg Beach, Judy Werier'scabin and deck were damaged after a tree crashed down from the wind.

Area resident Laurie Hoogstraatenreported seeinga sideways-flying pelican swept up in the winds.

"It's taking my breath away, literally," she said of the wind.

"I was fighting the wind and I was going to talk to you from the beach but it's absolutely impossible because the wind is blowing so strongly. And I just saw a pelican fly sideways.Completely sideways."

On Sunday, theovernight low in Winnipegis3 C.

Snow will continue until Monday morning, but is expected to clear later in the day, and the high will only rise to 4 C.

But the miserable May weather won't last. Sunshine is in the forecast all week, and bynext weekend, the high is expected to hit 24 C on both Saturday and Sunday.