Rainwatchers Report: St. Pierre and Steinbach Hardest Hit in Southeast

Early rainfall readings reveal St. Pierre and Steinbach at 93 mm and 85 mm respectively.

Local rainwatchers say the communities of St. Pierre and Steinbach experienced the most rainfall in southeast Manitoba Thursday. Unofficial readings taken this morning show St. Pierre with 93 mm of rain while Steinbach recorded 85 mm. Steinbach’s total includes the 15 mm it received Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

Rainfall warnings remain in effect for southeast and central Manitoba, including Winnipeg.

Environment and Climate Change Canada has downgraded the rainfall warnings in southern Manitoba to a rainfall watch as the rain system moves out of the area.

Environment and Climate Change Canada upgraded the warnings to rainfall warnings just before 8 a.m. Thursday. A rainfall warning means heavy downpours capable of producing 50 mm of rain in less than an hour are either occurring or expected. Environment Canada says the rainfall warnings have now been downgraded to watches because the main band of heavy rain is now moving east of southern Manitoba. The rainfall watch for Winnipeg remains in effect as more rain is expected this evening and overnight.

Other southeast communities report rainfall in the 50 mm to 65 mm range.

• Morris reported 64 mm of rain.
• La Broquerie, 55 mm.
• Vita, 50 mm.

The deluge kept crews busy overnight responding to flooding calls.

The heavy rain kept crews in southeast Manitoba busy responding to calls for flooded basements and roadways. The RM of Hanover closed several roads overnight due to flooding. Crews used sandbags to divert water away from homes in the RM of Ste. Anne. In Winnipeg, crews used a vacuum truck to remove standing water in South Point Park. The City of Winnipeg also closed several streets and underpasses due to flooding.

The rain is expected to taper off later today, but more rain is on the way this weekend.

Environment Canada says the rain is expected to taper off by this evening. However, more rain is expected this weekend. Saturday’s forecast calls for a 60 per cent chance of showers and a risk of thunderstorms. Sunday’s forecast is for a 30 per cent chance of showers.