We're still somewhat under the gun, weather-wise, in Portage la Prairie. That's from meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada Danielle Desjardins. She explains you should still brace yourself for what may happen this evening.

"You guys got hit pretty hard last night," says Desjardins. "Some of the higher amounts seen over the southern portion of the province last night were right over Portage. I do have a report of 81.3 millimetres and 73.7 millimetres overnight. You guys are under the gun a little bit again. Today, we are expecting more thunderstorms to develop. It's really hard to say exactly where the heaviest amounts will fall tonight, but we aren't expecting it to be quite as severe tonight as it was last night."

She notes, with the nature of these thunderstorms, we could be hit or missed altogether. 

"You're not quite out of the danger zone for tonight," continues Desjardins. "We have this low-pressure system that's the same low-pressure system, actually, that that caused the storm last night that's still tracking toward the east. That system coming through is bringing a little bit cooler weather combined with the heat and humidity. That produces lots of energy for these thunderstorms to become severe."

Desjardins explains the difference between a thunderstorm "warning" and a thunderstorm "watch".

"We issue thunderstorm watches when we are expecting the development of severe thunderstorms in an area," notes Desjardins. "These thunderstorm watches are usually a more broad and larger area, whereas severe thunderstorm warnings are when these thunderstorms have developed and we are tracking those thunderstorms into a certain region. So, 'watches' mean that we are expecting the development of thunderstorms and 'warnings' mean that those storms have already developed, and we are seeing them track into a certain region." 

She explains it's good to brace yourself, although the storm may miss us. 

"Definitely stay alert when there's a watch in your area. But when you see a warning go out, then it really is imminent and it is going to happen," adds Desjardins. "Keep an eye on the watches and alerts that go out later today for the Portage area. The system still is lingering and will be exiting by tonight, but there's still a little risk of severe thunderstorms developing in the area for today."