More extreme wind in Sahtu, snow heading to Yellowknife

Published: October 8, 2022 at 10:20pm Ollie WilliamsOctober 8, 2022

Yellowknife's Ranney Hill lies blanketed in snow — Yellowknife's Ranney Hill blanketed in snow. Sarah Pruys/Cabin Radio

The Northwest Territories’ Sahtu region is forecast to be battered by unusually strong winds on Thanksgiving Monday, a week after a similar storm blew through.

Tulita reached gusts of 87 km/h when the last wind warning was issued on October 1. Now, the latest warning states gusts could reach 110 km/h on Monday, October 10, with heavy snow also on the way.

Ten centimetres of snow or more could fall in Norman Wells, Fort Good Hope, Délı̨nę, Tulita and Colville Lake on Monday, Environment Canada said in a “special weather statement” issued on Saturday evening.

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“Strong winds, heavy snow and blowing snow are expected on Monday,” read the advisory, which covers all five Sahtu communities.

“Northwest winds with gusts of 80 to 110 km/h will develop Monday morning and continue throughout the day.

“Heavy snow is also expected through the day on Monday, with amounts between five to 10 cm, though locally higher amounts are possible. The combination of heavy falling snow and strong winds will result in poor visibility in blowing snow.”

A Global Forecast System model of wind speeds in the Sahtu and North Slave from Monday to Wednesday. Winds are stronger in the areas shaded green.

The same model, showing precipitation (rain and snow) in the Sahtu and North Slave from Monday to Wednesday. There’s more precipitation expected in areas shaded white and blue.

Last week, the wind moved southeast and struck the Tłı̨chǫ communities, Yellowknife and Łútsël K’é the following day.

This time around, forecast models currently suggest those communities will endure a windy Tuesday but possibly not as blustery as Sunday, October 2, where gusts of up to 80 km/h were recorded in Yellowknife.

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However, Yellowknife can expect plenty of snow starting on Monday night and extending throughout Tuesday, and conditions could remain windy well into Wednesday.