Severe thunderstorm warnings echoed throughout the province last weekend, advising individuals to go indoors and seek shelter. One Saskatchewan resident, however, was doing the opposite.
Storm Chaser, Brayden Morisseau, began tracking storms southeast of Swift Current last Friday night resulting in stunning photos from across the prairies.
“We had a storm go up pretty early in the day,” he elaborated. “I actually had been chasing the days leading up to that and I actually slept in a parking lot in Limerick the night before. “I’ve got a modified jeep that I chase with, and I've got it rigged out so that I can stay in there on the road,” he explained.
“That storm developed, I went down to take a look at it, and shortly after it developed, it attempted at becoming tornadic. It went through a cycle called Tornado Genesis that allows it to potentially produce tornadoes.”
Later that same day, Morisseau also captured an extraordinary supercell, located southwest of Stewart Valley.
He added that what makes the supercell so special, is what is called a mesocyclone, which is a deep rotating updraft created by wind shear turning with height.
“In the summertime that moisture from the Gulf of Mexico gets drawn up by these systems that are moving into the prairies. The ingredients are M.I.S.T. for these supercells, so, moisture, instability, shear and trigger.”
Morisseau stated that he has always had a passion for weather. After learning how to forecast, he participated in a tornado tour in the States and ended up being a guide for the company for many years.
Inflow screaming in WSW of Stewart Valley, Saskatchewan #skstorm pic.twitter.com/uZ00U1lVgH
— Braydon Morisseau (@BraydonMoreSo) June 4, 2023
“We’re looking at these forecast models days out and then we decide whether or not we're going to chase that system and we go out and follow it,” he explained. “What makes it really special is that it's such an intimate moment on the prairies. It's a moment that is never going to be the same again, and you're experiencing that moment that a lot of people won't get to see, and I just think that's really unique and special.”
Supercell SW of Stewart Valley, Saskatchewan earlier #skstorm pic.twitter.com/8tMFoWTvuf
— Braydon Morisseau (@BraydonMoreSo) June 4, 2023
