Extreme weather conditions continue in northern Saskatchewan this summer with reports of a severe storm hitting the Cumberland House area this past weekend.
Terri Lang is a meteorologist with Environment Canada.
She says the stormy weather is being caused by a jet stream that started in southern Saskatchewan, moved to the far north and has most recently settled in the northern part of the province.
“We know that storms are part of Saskatchewan summer, it’s just where they hit and how often they hit,” Lang says. “It started off rather dry in the spring and all of a sudden everything changed, the rains came and we saw the storms start to develop.”
Environment Canada has also confirmed two tornadoes touched down in the Meadow Lake Provincial Park area on Canada Day weekend.
Lang adds one of the most important things you can do to better ensure safety when you see a storm approaching is move away from any bodies of water.
“Well, the first thing is that when people see storm clouds approaching is to get off the lake as fast as they can. We know that these storms can come up really quickly and if you are in a boat, you can easily get swamped. You’re also the tallest thing on the lake when you’re in a boat, so the risk of being struck by lightning is there as well.”
Lang says we can expect more cool and wet weather in northern Saskatchewan for at least another week or so.
(PHOTO: Courtesy of Northern Plains Weather Facebook page.)