Environment Canada is forecasting 90-110+ km/h winds across the southern half of Saskatchewan. The winds are scheduled to begin this afternoon and continue for the coming 24 hours.

In preparation, SaskPower is lining up technicians and electricians across the communities of southern and central Saskatchewan to deal with potential broken poles, downed lines, fallen trees and general outages overnight and into tomorrow. Such strong winds can notably cause 'galloping' or lines swaying back and forth and hitting each-other. This can lead to a short and an outage, and sometimes even a downed power line. SaskPower will also be co-ordinating response with utilities in Alberta and Manitoba as the situation evolves.

Customers are encouraged to always have an outage kit prepared for outages like those we may face tonight. This can include bottled water, non-perishable food, blankets, a flashlight with fresh batteries and a first aid kit, among other things. Please see SaskPower.com for a checklist to prepare your own kit: www.saskpower.com/outages/preparing-your-home-for-unplanned-outages.

SaskPower will be communicating all outages via Twitter. If you experience an outage, please contact our 24-hour Outage Centre at 310-2220.

Finally, it is absolutely critical to stay away from any downed power lines. These may appear as if they are not conducting electricity, but they may still be live. If you spot one, stay at least 10 metres away and call our outage line or even 911 so we can make it safe as soon as possible. Stay safe.

At a glance...

• 90-110+ km/h winds expected for south and central SK over the next 24 hours
• This will potentially cause power outages; SaskPower is preparing
• Consider preparing an outage kit to protect yourself and your family
• Follow SaskPower on Twitter for updates on any outages
• Stay away from any downed lines and call SaskPower or 911.