Wind gusts reached 117 km/h in parts of the Northwest Territories as an Arctic storm swept through on Saturday, Environment Canada says.
Wind warnings related to the storm have now ended, though some areas were still dealing with power outages on Sunday morning and blowing snow may remain a problem in parts of the South Slave.
In a tweet, Environment Canada said preliminary data suggests areas of Great Slave Lake experienced gusts of 117 km/h, gusts during a Tuktoyaktuk blizzard peaked at 107 km/h, and Gamètì recorded speeds of up to 100 km/h.
An independent wind gauge in Yellowknife recorded peak gusts in the city of 108 km/h, the federal agency stated, though Environment Canada’s own equipment noted a peak of only 82 km/h.
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Norman Wells, meanwhile, recorded 22 cm of snow during the storm. Six centimetres of snow fell in Yellowknife.
Yellowknife experienced multiple outages on Saturday evening, Behchokǫ̀ lost power after a transmission line failure in high wind, and parts of Fort Smith lost power early on Sunday morning.
“Due to the storm in the South Slave and a number of interruptions on the transmission line this morning, NTPC will be moving to diesel generation in Fort Smith and Fort Resolution until the storm settles down,” the NWT Power Corporation said in a statement.
“There may still be localized interruptions to the distribution systems. NTPC will address as quickly as possible when it is safe to do so.”
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So far, there are no reports of significant damage or injury related to the storm as it swept north-to-south through the territory over the weekend.
An Environment Canada wind warning for Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Smith, Fort Providence, Fort Resolution, Kakisa and Enterprise ended shortly after 8am on Sunday.
Blowing snow advisories in the South Slave had been terminated by 10:30am.
