Parts of the North Slave spent time under a wind warning on Tuesday after the weather was suspected of playing a part in a morning Yellowknife power outage.
The city lost power at 7:43am with some homes and businesses waiting 50 minutes for electricity to be restored.
The NWT Power Corporation said the problem was a transmission line fault between Yellowknife and the Snare hydro system to the northwest.
“High winds and wet snow are present in the area,” the power corporation stated.
Gusts of up to 70 km/h were forecast for Yellowknife on Tuesday.
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Just after 10am, Environment Canada issued a yellow advisory for wind in the Tłı̨chǫ region.
“Strong northwest winds gusting up to 90 km/h are occurring,” that advisory stated. Forecasters expect the wind to weaken in the afternoon.
“Local utility outages are possible. Damage to roofs, fences, branches or soft shelters is possible. Secure loose objects,” the advisory read.
That advisory was ended just after noon. In its place, Tłı̨chǫ communities and Yellowknife were placed under a blowing snow advisory. The community government of Behchokǫ̀ said it was closing the Rae-Edzo connector ice road in response to the conditions.
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“Poor visibility in snow and blowing snow is expected today, particularly in exposed areas,” Environment Canada stated early on Tuesday afternoon.
Yellow is the third and least severe tier in Environment Canada’s new colour-coded weather warning system. Orange is the second tier and red the top, most severe tier.
Hay River and Fort Resolution are also under a yellow advisory for blowing snow. Conditions there are expected to improve on Tuesday evening.
