Photo credit: Alesia Marchant, June 23, 2024, RM of Bayne.

The Northern Tornadoes Project survey team just completed their fieldwork late Monday in Saskatchewan and are reviewing data to determine what tornadoes took place in the province last week.

The team surveyed in the Hirsch/Frobisher, Hubbard and Kronau areas, where confirmed tornadoes occurred, and in the Blackstrap Lake area south of Saskatoon where damage was reported. The team did not find damage in the Young area where another tornado was reported. So far eight tornadoes have been investigated and NTP says the count may increase as they continue to review data such as satellite imagery along the entirety of several storm tracks.

NTP says for storm days like the 19th, with multiple storm tracks and several reported tornadoes, their investigations typically take at least a week or more to complete.

There had already been four confirmed tornadoes before June 19th. As well, NTP is actively investigating a few more reports of possible tornadoes from last Saturday as well as just this past Monday.

The 2024 Canadian tornado season started Mar 16 and ended Nov 10 – the longest on record since at least 1980. And the 129 tornadoes for the year comes second only to 2022 when there was 131. Ontario recorded the most tornadoes over land with 50 events and an additional ten tornadoes recorded over water. Quebec was the second most active province in 2024 with 21 tornadoes, followed by Saskatchewan with 19.

The Northern Tornadoes Project partners with Environment and Climate Change Canada as well as Western University.