Sunday marks another stormy night in Saskatchewan

A majority of the province was under a storm watchSunday, but it was the southeast regionthat was hit particularly hard.

The Estevan, Sask., area experienced heavyhail and torrential downpourSunday afternoon.

Samuel Lapierre lives on Valley Street in Estevan, and as of 6p.m. CST he remained inside waiting for thepower outage to end and the streets to clear.

"There was so much hail, up to toonie-sized hail," he said, adding the rainwater flooded his basement and pooledin his backyard."You could see it running like a river from the driveway down to the street."

The heaviest part of the storm lasted for about 45 minutes, he said, adding it has been ongoing for hours.

Although the storm began to calm, the rain persisted.

"The main roads are like rivers," Lapierre said.

The storm that settled nearthe city displayed unusual behaviour by remaining so still for multiple hours, said James Cummine, withEnvironment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).

"It's very unusual. It's almost like it's anchored on right at the point of entry at the border," he said, referencing the city's close proximity to North Dakota."It's just kind of sitting there."

He said ECCC expected the storm to track northeast and move intoManitoba late in the evening.

Tornado watch

As for tornadoes, Cummine said heheard several reports of funnel clouds in the province, but at the time they weren't the main concern.

Cumminenotedthere was one report of a 20-second tornado touching down nearHumboldt, Sask.

"Most of these funnel clouds are brief in seconds," he said, addingthey are less threatening to people.

That's why storms like the one settled overEstevanare so concerning, because it is concentrated in a populated area.

The main problem for theprovince will be the more typical kind of prairie weather.

"It's the slow moving rain that's actually going to cause the most grief to the most people," he said.

• Low pressure system brings heavy rain to most of southern Sask.

On Sunday afternoon, ECCCissued a blanket statement in anticipation of heavy rainfall across the province.

Several severe thunderstorm warnings were also issued throughout the day.