Strong winds knock out power to thousands across central, northern Alberta

Cory Edel recaps the wind speeds that were seen in northern and central Alberta on Wednesday, and reveals what's in store for Thursday.

Thousands of people were without power Wednesday evening in central and northern Alberta, including the Edmonton area, as strong winds lashed the region.

Hundreds of confirmed and unconfirmed outages affected the region, according to online maps from power suppliers Fortis Alberta and ATCO.

At the peak of the issues, 15,000 Fortis customers were without power. Of those, 11,000 were without power because of a transmission outage, a Fortis spokesperson told CTV News Edmonton in an email.

“Crews have been mobilized across the affected areas and are actively assessing damage and making repairs. Full restoration is currently estimated by approximately noon tomorrow.

“Given the extent of the damage caused by the high winds, some customers are expected to remain without power overnight. As work progresses this evening, we will contact those customers so they can plan accordingly,” communications manager Tanya Croft said.

“High winds continue to create challenging working conditions, and the safety of our crews and the public remains our priority. We appreciate our customers’ patience as crews work safely and as quickly as possible.”

Affected communities

In and around Athabasca, about 135 kilometres north of Edmonton, 6,250 Fortis customers were without power. In Boyle, about 125 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, 1,788 customers were without power, while another 1,946 customers were in the dark east of the town toward Lac La Biche.

Crews were working to restore power. About 2,000 customers in Strathcona County, north and south of Cooking Lake, had power restored as of 5:30 p.m.

A wind warning was issued for Edmonton and much of north-central Alberta Wednesday afternoon. Gusts in the city ranged from 50 to 75 kilometres per hour through much of the afternoon, while weather stations just outside Edmonton have reported gusts of 80 to 95 km/h.

Other outages include:

• 724 customers in St. Albert’s Grandin area, south of downtown, without power because of heavy winds;
• 129 customers north of Highway 16 near Stony Plain;
• 96 customers east of Highway 21 near Looma;
• 91 customers north of Miquelon Lake;
• 64 customers northwest of Devon and west of Highway 60;
• 63 customers at Jackfish Lake, east of Wabamun Lake; and
• 62 customers along the north shore of Lake Isle.

ATCO supplies much of northern Alberta, as well as part of east-central Alberta, including Lloydminster, Bonnyville, Vegreville and St. Paul. Among its confirmed outages, 110 customers on the south shore of Lesser Slave Lake near Kinuso were without power, along with 89 customers near Wapiti, south of Grande Prairie.

The gusty conditions are expected to continue into Wednesday evening before tapering off overnight. Edmonton and area will see calmer conditions Thursday morning before gusts return to around 30 kilometres per hour in the afternoon.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Josh Classen