Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Three Tornadoes Today!!!

Busy day on the Canadian Prairies today, weather wise.

First, incredible photos of this violent looking tornado that the local media like to call funnel clouds. Judge for yourself:

Saskatoon Star Phoenix
Funnel cloud spotted near Birch Hills

News Talk 650 Radio
Funnel cloud spotted in Birch Hills | News Talk 650 CKOM

Other reports of funnel clouds in south eastern Saskatchewan. One north of Wapella, and another near Quill Lakes that didn't touch the ground.

Then, a tornado was captured in Alberta near Medicine Hat.



"Environment Canada has confirmed a small funnel cloud touched down around 50 KM east of Medicine Hat Tuesday afternoon near Walsh. Meteorologists say the weather system was so small it didn't even hit their radar, but warn weather for Wednesday looks much more daunting.
Significant weather Meteorologist Brian Proctor says south eastern Alberta could see several small funnel clouds develop as strong storm cells pass through the region."

via CHAT Medicine Hat

Finally, to round out the day. The city of Regina was treated to a show at sundown as a mini thunderstorm cell came into the city as I got a chance to photograph it and get totally soaked in the downpour that followed. Video will be up tomorrow and you won't want to miss it. I captured a nice bolt of lighting in front of a wall cloud as it cruised over the downtown skyline.

Much more will be uploaded tomorrow. Click here for today's album.

VIDEO!

Monday, June 13, 2011

UPDATE: Flash Flood/Thunderstorm over Regina Today - June 13, 2011

Click photo for slide show


Doing some practice shooting with the camera and tripod today.

Here is the video:


Didn't expect much today but I wanted to test out the equipment. What started out as not much more than some pop up thunder-heads turned into a surprise flash flooding and mostly soaking system. It was brief but fun!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Tornado Fatalities in Saskatchewan 1898 to 1979 (Map Graphic)

Keep in mind when looking at this chart that Saskatchewan's population peaked just before the "Dirty Thirties" and a large percentage was rural at that time. The population largely moved into the cities after this long period of drought. Amazingly, the number of fatalities was approximately 70 from 1898 to 1935 and only 10 from 1936 to present day.

Detailed Chart Data