A series of severe thunderstorms made their presence known over the Labour Day long weekend producing torrential rainfall, high winds and, in one case, baseball-sized hail. On Tuesday, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) released a rainfall summary for a 36-hour window ending at 10 a.m. Sept. 8. The weather service highlighted 16 communities which received more than 40 millimetres (mm) of rainfall in that period. They included: A previous summary issued for Sunday listed nine reporting locations. Last Mountain received the most precipitation on that list with 56.5 mm. Hazenmore, Val Marie, Moose Jaw, Broadview, Duck Mountain and Holdfast all reported substantial rainfall with 55.8, 31.2, 24.5, 31.5, 29.7 and 29.8 mm respectively. The severe thunderstorms also led to high winds. Gusts ranging from 91 kilometres per hour to 85 km/h were reported in Regina, while the communities of Mankota, Val Marie and Radville reported gusts of 89 km/h, 93 km/h and 85 km/h respectively. Hail described as “baseball sized” was reported in Kipling, according to ECCC. ECCC has not released details of the various torrential downpours reported on Monday. Localized flooding was reported in Regina and Weyburn, with various businesses forced to temporarily close due to being inundated with water.
