SASKATCHEWAN — Saskatchewan is getting close to setting a new one-year record for tornado activity, with a few weeks remaining for the 2026 twister season.
Terri Lang, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said 27 tornadoes have been confirmed in Saskatchewan so far this year, and five more reported from July 10 remain under investigation.
Depending on the climatology used, Lang said the provincial record for tornadoes in one year ranges from 33 – which is the number used by Environment Canada – to 44.
She pointed out Saskatchewan has had so many tornadoes this year because it has the ingredients needed for the storms to develop.
“The No. 1 would be moisture. We’ve had a number of dry years as of late, and moisture’s a huge contributor to the storms. So we’ve finally got that in abundance … It started in the winter and we had a wet spring into a wet summer. That moisture is present," she said.
Also, crops are growing right now and giving off a tremendous amount of moisture, she said.
“The term that we call evapotranspiration,” she said. “Storm chasers would call it storm juice and farmers would call it corn sweat. It’s all the same concept that there’s a ton of moisture that goes into the atmosphere from growing crops.”
Severe weather tends to tail off in mid-August, she said, because crops have matured and daylight hours are declining.
Another contributing factor is the atmosphere, she said. There has been a consistent pattern of the jet stream’s location, which allowed for severe storms to form and produce tornadoes.
“There’s probably a solid month left for tornadic storms to develop,” she said.
Saskatchewan typically has 13-17 tornadoes confirmed each year, she said.
“When we look at a trend line for the number of tornadoes, it’s extremely erratic,” said Lang.
Eight tornadoes, all with the EF0-default listing, have been confirmed from July 10 this year. Lang noted that the province has had days with eight tornadoes in the past, and she added “it’s more common than you would think”, but if the other five tornadoes are confirmed, that would bring the total to 13, which she said might be a single-day record.
The storms that were reported in the Waldheim and Speers areas on July 10 will likely be stronger than EF0, Lang said.
“The surveying is slower, just because there’s more damage, and you have to be looking at things quite carefully,” said Lang, who won’t speculate as to the strength of those storms.
The most powerful tornado confirmed so far this year is an EF3 twister that struck in the North Portal-Oxbow area of southeast Saskatchewan on June 9 – the first EF3 in Saskatchewan since 2010.
Tornadoes are rated based on the damage that they cause, Lang said, and the impact has to be investigated with care.
Environment Canada works closely with the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP), she said, as the NTP is staffed to conduct investigations and surveys of the tornadoes. Environment Canada won’t confirm a tornado until the NTP does.
“We work hand in hand with them to confirm the tornadoes, because we are not staffed to be able to do the investigations, and they are,” said Lang.
Lang also reminded the public about tornado safety. People want to enjoy their summers, but Lang asks that they enjoy them safely, which includes keeping an eye on the weather forecast and having a way to receive warnings. She recommends the Environment Canada app, which includes notifications and radar, and the SaskAlert app.
“Have a plan, a safety plan, so if something were to happen, you know what to do as opposed to scrambling at the last second, and when severe weather approaches, you implement that plan," she said.
