Waldeck Saskatchewan - A train derailment near Waldeck on Thursday night is being blamed on strong winds associated with a severe thunderstorm.
 
Both CP Rail and Environment Canada said a plow wind was to blame.
 
Thirty-three rail cars left the track around 19:30 CST, east of Waldeck, a town about 200 kilometres west of Regina, said CP spokeswoman Salem Woodrow.
 
Woodrow did not know what freight the train was carrying, but said there were no injuries, no leaks, and no evacuations reported.
 
Friday morning, Woodrow confirmed suspicions that the train had been pushed off the tracks by extremely strong winds, connected with a storm rolling through the area.
 
Environment Canada meteorologist Rob Paola said there were some strong thunderstorms in the area at the time.
 
"It's the nature of these thunderstorms, they could produce some very localized, very strong wind gusts," Paola said.
 
Plow winds are strong, sudden down drafts of cool air that rapidly spread outward ahead of a thunderstorm or squall line, according to the weather agency.
 
On Friday morning, Environment Canada said gusts as strong as 120 km/h had been recorded in the Swift Current area.
 
"The cars were oriented east-west and double-stacked, which would have given them a high profile and the wind gusts coming out of the storm would have been from the north," Paola explained.
 
Mounties said the tracks run alongside the Trans-Canada Highway, but no cars or debris from the derailment were on the road.
 
An officer said traffic will eventually be reduced to one lane so CPR can get in equipment to clean up the derailment.
 
It's the third time a CPR freight train has derailed in southern Saskatchewan in six weeks.
 
On 11 Aug 2014 a train collided with a tractor-trailer west of Caron on Monday afternoon, sending 21 empty cars and two locomotives off the tracks.
 
Twenty-four cars carrying asphalt, lumber, and contained gasoline went off the tracks near Caron on 16 Jul 2014.
 
There were no leaks, and no injuries or evacuations.

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