Environment Canada issued several tornado alerts throughout the evening, saying it had received reports of tornadoes touching down near Tilston and Virden in Manitoba, as well as rotating wall clouds and funnel clouds in southeastern Saskatchewan.
Dozens of photos and videos posted to Twitter showed what appeared to be twisters touching to the ground.
In some, the asphalt looked to have been ripped from the road along a two-lane highway near Pierson, Man., and there were reports of grain bins being found on rural roads.
#MBstorm pic from this evening N of Pierson, MB Tornado was so violent it ripped the asphalt from the hiway @680CJOB pic.twitter.com/RhqgzBYzBw
— Greg Johnson (@TornadoGreg) July 28, 2015There were no immediate reports of injuries or major damage, but power lines were brought down and some farm buildings appear to have been hit.
North of Edward, Manitoba #mbstorm @ReedTimmerTVN @SeanSchoferTVN @PrairieChasers 7:50PM pic.twitter.com/HWmYAGTSgJ
— Braydon Morisseau (@BraydonMoreSo) July 28, 2015In one alert, Environment Canada said the tornado had become rainwrapped and hard to see, calling that "a dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation.''
Television programming in Manitoba was regularly interrupted by emergency alerts warning of tornadoes moving toward small communities and at one point, toward the town of Virden, which has a population of about 3,000.
Another view of the giant tornado N of Pierson, MB last evening #MBstorm #SKstorm #CMTtornadohunters pic.twitter.com/NSFd8apzyJ
— Greg Johnson (@TornadoGreg) July 28, 2015A town Twitter feed reported that local RCMP were pulling vehicles off the road and instructing drivers to take shelter, and others reported officers were telling people inside at least one convenience store to stay put until the storm passed.
"Virden radar shows it is almost here,'' Mayor Jeff McConnell tweeted at one point. "Take cover now please! I want to see you in the morning.''
Terrifying night in SW MB as a large & violent multi vortex tornado was on the ground for a half hour #MBstorm pic.twitter.com/oJxvzBcv1j
— Greg Johnson (@TornadoGreg) July 28, 2015Power was knocked out in the town for a time and near midnight, Environment Canada confirmed that a tornado had hit an area northeast of the community.
Regina, meanwhile was deluged with 73 millimetres of rain, which caused localized flash flooding in some streets.
Here are some more photos of the storm and resulting damage on the Prairies from Monday:
NEW: photo of up-close #tornado very violent S of Tilston, MB this eve @breakingweather @seanschofertvn #mbstorm pic.twitter.com/nnxlD6V3yV
— Reed Timmer (@reedtimmerTVN) July 28, 2015North of Pierson #mbstorm #tornado last night pic.twitter.com/RQk0lkAZ06
— Rob Radcliffe (@westernmb71) July 28, 2015Terrifying night in SW MB as a large & violent multi vortex tornado was on the ground for a half hour #MBstorm pic.twitter.com/oJxvzBcv1j
— Greg Johnson (@TornadoGreg) July 28, 2015Large violent tornado on the ground north of Edward, MB. #mbstorm #skstorm @reedtimmerTVN pic.twitter.com/O0aW768ovs
— Sean Schofer (@SeanSchoferTVN) July 28, 2015Multi vortex tornado on the ground moments ago Near Tilson Manitoba!!! #mbstorm via @BraydonMoreSo pic.twitter.com/pY4xSesgXP
— Tyler Grundstrom (@tychistorm) July 28, 2015Funnel cloud and damage in SW Manitoba @weathernetwork @debmatejicka @StormhunterTWN @ChrisScottWx pic.twitter.com/ZQ7qQTdlrA
— Shawn Legg (@twnshawn) July 28, 2015Highway 256 was closed last night after a tornado tore up a bridge north of Pierson. #mbstorm pic.twitter.com/LP8l8GcgwK
— The Brandon Sun (@thebrandonsun) July 28, 2015Starting to see some damage from last night's #mbstorm - uprooted trees just past Tilston. #cbcmb pic.twitter.com/WXwUKaNNx1
— Angela Johnston (@angjohnston) July 28, 2015
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