Power Outages Hit Northern Manitoba After Thanksgiving Snowstorm

Heavy snow, rain, and strong winds swept across northern Manitoba over the Thanksgiving weekend, leaving thousands of residents without power and causing widespread damage to trees and infrastructure.

At the height of the storm, Manitoba Hydro reported between 11,000 and 12,000 customers affected by outages across the province. By Monday night, roughly 4,500 customers—mostly in northern communities including Thompson, The Pas, Flin Flon, Snow Lake, Wabowden, and surrounding areas—remained without electricity.

Crews have been working around the clock to repair broken poles, downed lines, and damaged equipment, though progress has been slowed by poor road conditions and heavy snow. Highways 391 and 280 were temporarily closed due to blowing snow and low visibility, making it difficult for repair crews to access remote sites.

Environment Canada reported snowfall amounts exceeding 30 centimetres in areas between Flin Flon and Thompson, along with wind gusts near 60 km/h. The combination of wet snow and wind caused trees to buckle under the weight, pulling down power lines across large sections of the north.

Despite the hardships, some residents noted that the storm’s moisture was much needed after a dry summer and one of Manitoba’s most active wildfire seasons in years.

Manitoba Hydro says restoration efforts will continue until all power is fully restored, but warns that travel limitations and ongoing weather challenges could delay work in certain communities.