'Raining cats and dogs': Wild weather hits Waldheim, Sask.

A wild storm seemed to end as quickly as it began, according to one resident fromWaldheim, Sask.

JudiGurski said she heard a big wind come up as the intense storm rolled through the community Tuesday after 8 p.m. CST.

"It was raining cats and dogs," she said.

The cracking noises followed shortly after the heavy rain began.

"I looked out the side window and we have a huge tree right beside our house and it had snapped like a toothpick."

Don Schultz reported this video of the July 17 storm near Waldheim.

7 years ago

Duration 0:34

Don Schultz reported this video of the July 17 storm near Waldheim.

Gurski said the tree fell on her husband's truck. They looked at the backyard and saw three morehad landed on their garage.

"I'd never seen a storm quite like that before," she said.

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Her first instinct was to take cover in the basement, because she didn't know if a tornado was close by, but thought one could be.

"But itstarted and stopped so quickly. It was amazing," she said.

Residents of Waldheim used social media to share their weather woes.

People reported seeing a combination of funnel clouds, high winds, heavy rain and hail.

After the storm, they reported property damage and said massive trees had beenuprooted from the ground.

Renee Kwitkoskiwrote the storm"sounded like metal being bent, like watching the movie Twister."

Kwitkoski also shared pictures of the aftermath and said "that was the most scariest sound I have ever heard ... my worst nightmare ... a tornado in my own backyard."

One resident said they saw a funnel cloud form and "rip through the pasture and then swirl over our house. Never touched down, but lots of rain hail and wind as you all witnessed."

TJ. Hiebert wrote that the weather took out thepower lineand the fence.

As soon as the weather calmed, Gurskisawthe Waldheimfire department out and about dealing with downed power lines.

She said she'll have to look into filing an insurance claim, but she's happy it wasn't worse.

The weather looked like a "bow echo" storm based onradar imagery, Environment Canada meteorologist Natalie Hasell said.

While it's possible for that system to generate a tornado, Hasell said it was more likely to be a storm with powerful "straight-line winds":a typical characteristic of the bow echo system.

"They travel quickly. They come along unexpectedly," she said. "The type of damage could be similar to what a tornado might do."

Waldheim is located about 57kilometres north of Saskatoon.