Wicked winds whipping across much of Western Canada on Wednesday ripped down power lines, blew over semi-trailers, tore signs and awnings from their moorings and subjected pedestrians to a gale-force resistance workout.

Environment Canada issued warnings for large parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, as well as for a corner of British Columbia, about gusts reaching 90 to 100 km/h — or much higher in some areas.

Nearly 16,000 customers across northern B.C. were without power because of toppled trees and downed power lines. The hardest hit area was the South Peace River region in the province's northeast, where speeds of 126 km/h were clocked at the Fort St. John airport Tuesday night when the windstorm swept in.

BC Hydro estimated electricity to some homes might not be restored until 11 p.m. Wednesday — more than 24 hours after it went out.

The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality opened a recreation centre in Fort Nelson, B.C., so people without power could get a hot meal and shelter.

"We have had numerous locations with gusts greater than 100 (km/h)," said Dan Kulak of Environment Canada. "This is not like a summer thunderstorm where you get gusts ... (that are) very localized and very brief. We are having hours and hours at multiple locations ... where winds are very strong."

In Alberta, several RCMP detachments advised motorists that extremely high winds were making travel difficult. Drivers were advised to use caution on the Queen Elizabeth II Highway south of Edmonton. There were a number of reports of semi-trailer trucks and vans blown over, but no word of injuries.

The wind caused trouble during the morning commute in Edmonton, where a section of the light-rail transit line had to be closed because the wind was wildly whipping crossing arms at major intersections.

Debris strewn on streets hampered drivers, while twisted traffic lights caused signal malfunctions.

It was no calmer in Saskatchewan.

The Saskatoon Greater Catholic Schools division was not dismissing students over the lunch hour because of high winds and blowing debris. Parents were asked to pick up their children or drop off their lunches.

The city advised residents that it was preparing for potential service disruptions "as the force of such high winds may be destructive." Utility and transportation crews were standing by. A falling light standard crushed the roof of a parked car, but no one was inside.

Power outages were being reported in several areas of the city as well as across the province.

Strong winds were also expected in Manitoba, where forecasters were predicting snow squalls and even a thunderstorm.

Natalie Hasell of Environment Canada said it was all due to the unstable air.

"We do get thunderstorms in winter time. It’s not unheard of. It's ... typically called thunder snow," she said.

In Winnipeg, poor visibility due to blowing snow was expected to be a factor into Thursday morning. The weather was already causing delays and cancellations at the city's international airport.

The wind did not sweep in a deep freeze. The weather was unseasonably mild with temperatures in many areas hovering around zero or climbing even higher.

Kulak said at least six temperature records fell across northern Alberta by mid-morning Wednesday. In Edmonton, the old record of 8 C set last Jan. 15 fell when the mercury hit 9 C early in the morning.

A significant low-pressure system moving down from the Mackenzie Valley in the Northwest Territories was to blame for that, explained Kulak.

"(The low) is pulling a lot of warm Pacific air across southern Alberta and ... we've had a number of temperature records for the day fall before the sun even came up," he said.

"Really a very unusual day across the western part of the Prairies."

The unstable weather was expected to head into Ontario overnight.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2014