A wicked wind storm downed trees, took down power lines and knocked out hydro for much of the West Kootenay last week. It was the third such storm in the region in the last year.

We spoke to Southeast Fire Centre weather forecaster Jesse Ellis on the April 23 edition of Kootenay Morning to fill us in on that and more. Ellis said storms such as these are not historically typical in the region, but seem to be increasing in prevalence.

“I don’t know if we are seeing a trend, or if it is variability that appears to be a trend because of limited time spans in which we are able to observe it.”

Ellis also said that this March was one of the driest on the West Kootenay record.

Have a listen to the entire interview here: