Two clusters caused severe weather in parts of Saskatchewan yesterday but missed causing chaos in Moose Jaw. 

Brad Vrolijk, lead forecaster with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said the first cluster of severe thunderstorms developed over west central Saskatchewan, tracking North of Saskatoon, as well as through Prince Albert, the Battlefords and Meadow Lake.  

“They weakened as the night went on and tracked towards the Manitoba border.” 

Vrolijk said they received reports of tornados related to this cluster of thunderstorms near Radisson, Aberdeen, the RM of Bayne, and Meadow Lake, though he said they would be looking to confirm them throughout the day today.  

He said that there was also toonie to golf ball-sized hail associated with the cluster. “Saskatoon itself saw no severe weather, which is good, but we’ll be following up in that area today, seeing what else we can find.” 

Vrolijk added that the second cluster of thunderstorms developed between Swift Current and Moose Jaw. “Those tracked east, southeast through the night and eventually moved off into North Dakota.” 

He said they knew strong winds and damaging hail would be possible with the cluster southwest of Moose Jaw. “With that storm, we got one tornado report near Gravelbourg, and with that, we also got a report of loonie-sized hail.” 

As the evening progressed, tornados were less of a concern. “We had a couple of reports of funnel clouds after that, but nothing on the ground.” 

Of all hail reports from the storm, the largest hail was reported in Estevan overnight, at 5 to 7 cm in diameter. “We didn’t get any damage reports from it yet, because it was dark. One person I talked to said they’re going to have to look at their roof this morning, but they don’t feel good about it.” 

“I imagine there’s going to be quite a few damage reports out of Estevan this morning, as people assess what exactly that hailstorm did to the area.” 

Weyburn also reported wind gusts up to 113 km/h last night. “And that was definitely the strongest reported wind gust we saw from yesterday.” 

Vrolijk advised that there’s no risk of severe weather in the forecast for the next couple of days. “Maybe a few showers or thunder showers, but nothing severe. So, time to take a break from that – time for people to clean up and then figure it all out.”