Rainfall in the Red Deer area over the last two days was expected to come near the July monthly average by the time the clouds parted Central Alberta company today.
A line of thunderstorms that marched through on Monday afternoon dropped 55 mm of rain by 6 a.m. Tuesday. It had dropped about that same amount again by 6 p.m. Tuesday for the preceeding 24-hour period, said Environment Canada meteorologist John McIntyre.
The rain was expected to continue through the night and taper off by possibly 7 a.m. today.
The upper level low that entered Alberta Monday night continued to pound Central Alberta with near record levels of precipitation.
Rocky Mountain House had received more than 25 mm of rain by 6 p.m. Tuesday but that was topped by Lacombe, which recorded a whopping 76 mm of rain in the 16-hour period between 4 p.m. Monday and 8 a.m. Tuesday, McIntyre said.
The July average for Red Deer is 92 mm.
“You’ve had a lot of moisture for not only the last few days but in late June, McIntyre said.
Heavy rains and wind gusts of up to 60 km/h have created a series of headaches throughout the region, including downing trees that, in some cases, blocked roads and shorted power lines.
Ligong Gan, manager of Red Deer’s Electric Light & Power department, reported two power interruptions in the city — one in Grandview and Michener Hill and the other affecting Parkvale and Woodlea.
About 100 households in Parkvale and Woodlea were without power from 10 p.m. Monday to 5 a.m. today after trees struck several power lines, Gan said.
A crew worked through the night to restore the power, he added.
Up to 10 residences were affected by a power outage in the Michener area between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Monday.
Fallen branches had downed two power lines and a transformer, said Gan.
Bill Cade, public works supervisor for the County of Lacombe said Tuesday the public works garage and offices even sustained a power loss for about an hour.
However, a backup generator kicked in and kept the lights on while the repairs were commenced.
Cade said he hadn’t received any reports of flooded roads or washed out culverts although those reports may not come in for another day or two.
Jennifer McGowan, a public relations officer for FortisAlberta, which serves electrical power lines to all of Central and Southern Alberta, except the major urban areas such as Red Deer, Calgary and Lethbridge, said some Lacombe County residents experienced power losses at various times through Monday into Tuesday.
However, crews worked steadily to restore the power clearing several downed trees which had plunged across power lines.
Meanwhile, Hwy 853 north of Byemoor was closed Tuesday until further notice by the heavy rain with left conditions
wet and muddy conditions making a section of the gravel highway impassable, about 13 km north of Byemoor, said Frank Vidmar, Operations Services co-ordinator for Alberta Transportation.
The highway is about 35 km southeast of Stettler.
Traffic was being detoured onto local roads.
As the system tracks over Saskatchewan, the precipitation is forecast to taper off later tonight with lingering showers into Wednesday. Another 10 to 15 mm was expected before the system clears Alberta.
River and stream levels in Alberta were rising in some locations, Alberta Environment reported.
Low to moderate water level increases have been observed in the smaller tributaries located in the plains area between the Cities of Edmonton and Red Deer.
Water levels are generally normal to above normal in the Oldman, South Saskatchewan, Milk, and Beaver River basins.
Water levels are generally below normal to normal in the Athabasca, Peace, Hay, Red Deer, North Saskatchewan, Battle and Bow River basins.
Red Deer parks superintendent Trevor Poth said city crews have had to remove six trees and pick up a number of broken branches where that posed a threat to traffic or structures. While the river did not rise high enough to force closure of pathways, crews were advised to wait until the rain and wind had subsided before going into trail system to check for further damage.
It was to dangerous to go in while the wind was still knocking things around, said Poth.
Ron Baker, operations director for the Town of Sundre, said he has been keeping a close watch on water levels upstream of the town, which suffered heavy flooding and erosion damage in 2005.
So far this month, the river has not risen as high as it rose in late June, said Baker.
People in Sundre are still mopping up from a severe hailstorm that shredded siding, stripped shingles and smashed windows on Sunday, he said.
Even farmers are saying enough is enough, said Harry Brook, field crop specialist with Alberta Agriculture’s Ag Info Centre in Stettler.
Winds were so strong on Monday that Brook received one report stating it had blown the petals off the canola blossoms.
Some crops have laid over because of the strong winds, but they will come back up, he said.
“I hate to be one who criticizes rain, but we have enough, thank you. It can stop any time,” said Brook.
Hay crops and pastures devastated in last year’s cold spring and summer drought have recovered remarkably. But the soil is well saturated now and could go at least three weeks without any more rain, he said.
Look for some relief today, which Environment Canada meteorologist Lisa Coldwells described as a transition day. The skies were to clear in the morning with a daytime high in the low 20s. Thursday should be clear with a high of about 22C while Friday and Saturday will be mostly sunny with light showers.
jwilson@www.reddeeradvocate.com
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