Meteorologists are investigating the possibility of multiple tornadoes touching down in the Dryden area during Monday night’s severe storm, which had recorded wind gusts as high as 105 km/h.
“Like everyone else, we were watching radars and there were definitely some storm cells approaching Dryden that did have some signatures that, for now, are unconfirmed as tornadic signatures. It’s not impossible, but we don’t have a clear signal,” says Environment Canada Meteorologist, Steven Filsfeder.
Filsfeder explains that a team from Western University will now be looking at satellite images near Dryden to determine if those storm cells produced any tornado activity.
“What they do, is take a satellite image of a couple of days prior to the storm, and compare it to images after the storm. They look at the surface level to see if there were any indications of a pass,” he explains.
“If it were a tornado, there would be some rotation indicated on the surface. If it were just straight-line winds, it would be more of a flat area with things falling in one direction. It could take some time before we have a clear answer.”
Environment Canada issued a tornado warning for the Dryden area around 9:30 p.m. Monday night, as staff were tracking severe thunderstorms between Eagle Lake and Stormy Lake. The storm system moved into the area from Minnesota, and the state has reported damage south of the border.
Filsfeder adds that storm activity is expected to continue for the region, with an additional low-pressure weather system moving into the area by tonight or tomorrow morning.