June 23rd was the first day of Photo Tour #2. Models showed a triple point low over southern Saskatchewan, with a cold front/dry line extending south into northern Montana. We had a LONG was to go starting from Denver, with close to a 10-12 hour drive! So, we departed at sunrise and blasted north. We arrived in Wolf Point, Montana late afternoon as cumulus towers formed west toward Glasgow. Storms were already severe and tornado warned in Canada, with Environment Canada issuing a PDS (Particularly Dangerous Situation) tornado watch for parts of Saskatchewan. Knowing we still would have another 2-3 hour drive to make it up there, we decided to see what the Montana developing storms would do. SPC issued an MD for Montana talking about a couple supercells forming. We hedged our bets for Montana. Soon it became clear that was the wrong choice as storms formed as left moving supercells, so we crossed the border into Saskatchewan north of Plentywood, MT and blasted north towards the tornado warned supercell. We got within about 10 miles of it as the sun was setting so we stopped for photography. Structure was gorgeous and so were the pale blue and orange colors of the storms! We stayed with it the best we could and at one point a very dark, large “v” shaped lowering occurred although we could not tell whether it was a wall cloud or broad cone shaped funnel due to the distance we were from the storm. Having to get back to our border crossing, which closed at midnight, we waved goodbye and back tracked to get back into the US. A 1060 mile day that resulted in a stunning supercell near Neptune, Saskatchewan was well worth the drive! Enjoy the pics!
July 10th Killdeer, Saskatchewan Canada Tornadofest
July 10th lived up to the potential forecast models showed! A strong shortwave trough would traverse across southern Canada and Montana, as a dryline/cold front and associated warm front would slide slowly east. Strong shear, deep moisture, high CAPE and several boundaries would be the focus on severe storms. The question would be whether or not they would be isolated or clusters/linear. Fortunately a cluster of supercells formed over southern Saskatchewan and the tail end cell anchored along the warm front west of Killdeer. This storm would become a tornado machine as it produced at least 11 tornadoes we counted. More may have occurred as multiple occlusions occurred and some were quite messy with low visibility. This was one of the best tornadic events we’ve witnessed in Canada in 20 years of tours! Fortunately the tornadoes stayed over rural countryside and did little damage. A couple of these were quite strong. This storm slowly moved east riding the warm front all the time and eventually was choked off by outflow from a linear complex over Montana. Amazing event and a great way to end our tour season! Enjoy the photos and video stills!
July 15th Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada Tornado Warned Supercell
We stayed in Canada for this specific day. Everything looked like a decent tornado event could unfold. Great shear, moisture and instability were in place for a fantastic event. Only issue, a weak cap. This would allow too many storms to form too quickly, which would mitigate the tornado threat. However, we did witness a very nice supercell that likely did produce a tornado that we just couldn’t confirm south of Regina.
July 14th Southey, Saskatchewan, Canada Aurora Show
What a treat! One thing I love about chasing in Canada is the possibility of the Aurora making an appearance. This night it certainly did!
June 26th Parkbeg, Saskatchewan, Canada Strong Tornadoes
June 25th and 26th took us across the border to chase in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The trip resulted in my first ever Canadian tornado intercept. On June 25th we intercepted an HP supercell near Kindersly that had an amazing sunset under the gusted out storm. June 26th was the day to remember. An outflow boundary set up from southwest to south central Saskatchewan and become the focus for intense supercell development by late afternoon. The storm struggled at first and then spun like a top producing 2 photogenic tornadoes, with the 2nd one less than a mile from us and very strong. Amazing surface obs feeding the storm (82/77 with east winds at 20 mph) helped the base lower and ingest every bit of energy available. Check out the photos below. The first photo is from June 25th sunset. The rest are of the tornadic supercell on the 26th.
July 10th-17th, 2005 Canadian Prairie Images
The following images were taken while chasing the Canadian Prairie Provinces this summer. Beautiful country, but we did not catch a tornado. See the images below for our fun during this chase period!
