Sask tornado’s total is comparable to previous years, as per Environment Canada

Key Takeaways:

• Four tornadoes were confirmed to have touched down in the province; three happened in the Paynton region during 32 minutes, while a fourth formed nearby Blaine Lake a few hours later.
• In Saskatchewan, there were seven tornadoes in 2020 and eight in 2021. This summer, 15 tornadoes have already touched down in the province.
• Lang predicted that the second night of severe weather warnings on Saturday would benefit from the humidity and warm weather.

On Friday, Saskatchewan’s sporadic extreme summer weather returned.

Four tornadoes were verified to have touched down in the province, with three occurring in the Paynton area over 32 minutes and another developing near Blaine Lake a few hours later.

When the tornado activity started, storm chaser Jenny Hagan traveled along Highway 16 close to Paynton.

When she stopped to rest on the side of the road on Saturday while pursuing another storm system in eastern Saskatchewan, she said, “It was one of those cases where it just plummeted out of nowhere.”

It seems to come from nowhere, suddenly.

As severe weather watches, as well as warnings, have increased in frequency during June and July, Hagan, who has been following storms across the prairies for 12 years, claims to have already spotted seven tornadoes this summer, a fresh personal record.

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According to her, “our busy season kicked up with a bang, and it has been incredibly active compared to many years prior.”

While that might be the case, Environment Canada meteorologist Terri Lang claimed that the recent drought had reinforced a recency bias.

Because tornadoes seem to receive a lot of media attention and airtime, she claimed that summers have been quiet in terms of severe weather.

Seven tornadoes landed in Saskatchewan in 2020; eight did so in 2021. 15 tornadoes have made landfall in the province so far this summer.

According to Lang, we’re roughly on par with tornado numbers and severe weather.

The number of tornado reports in a typical Saskatchewan summer ranges from five to almost forty, with an average of around 17.

While tornadoes can occur during the entire summer, their peak season usually occurs in the middle of July. As crops expand and release moisture into the environment, evapotranspiration, the process by which water flows from the ground and into the atmosphere, aids in that process.

Tornadoes become less frequent as the crops start to dry out in August.

According to Lang, “We don’t see as many simply because that fuel supply is dwindling.”

According to Lang, Saturday’s second night of severe weather watches would benefit from humidity and high temperatures. Any potential tornado activity should be subdued by a heatwave that hits next week.

Hagan has been traveling for the past six days in search of powerful storms, and she plans to keep herself occupied the rest of the summer in the only way she knows how.

“Chasing storms involves a rush of excitement, and the force of nature is simply breathtaking. You don’t feel big compared to anything,” she remarked.

Source: CTV News