A thunderstorm rolls across southern Manitoba on June 22.

Thunderstorms and straight-line winds

Straight-line winds in thunderstorms can cause as much damage as a tornado

Reading Time: 4 minutes Weather columnist Daniel Bezte discusses the strength of straight-line winds during a thunderstorm and the damage they can cause.

AFSC offers two hail insurance options to Alberta producers: hail endorsement and straight hail insurance.

Alberta dwarfs the Prairies in hail claims

It’s not just because we get more hail, says crop insurance expert

Reading Time: 3 minutes When a province has a huge chunk of its geography referred to as “hailstorm alley,” it’s not surprising crop producers would get a lot of payouts for hail damage. But does that alone explain why total insurance payouts for hail damage in Alberta are about seven times more than the other Prairie provinces? According to […] Read more


A refrigerator is stuck in a tree at Dawson Springs, Kentucky, about 140 km west of Bowling Green, on Dec. 13, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Jon Cherry)

What makes a tornado?

There are competing theories as to why these destructive storms develop

Reading Time: 3 minutes Though we are near the end of summer and the peak of thunderstorm season, there are still opportunities for severe weather. Let’s look at the most destructive yet awesome weather event associated with thunderstorms: tornadoes. Worldwide, Canada is second only to the United States in the number of tornadoes occurring each year, with an average […] Read more

A fallen power pole on May 24, 2022 in the Quebec municipality of Saint-Hippolyte, 45 km north of Montreal, following a derecho event which is estimated to have caused more than $750 million in damages and led to the deaths of 12 people in Quebec and southern Ontario.

Thunderstorms and straight-line winds

Under the right circumstances they can be powerful enough to cause significant damage

Reading Time: 3 minutes Let’s do a quick recap of July weather. Alberta was spared the impacts of the large Hudson Bay upper low, with continued above average temperatures experienced in June. Edmonton was the hot spot with a mean monthly temperature of 18.6 C, which was about 2.5 C above average. Calgary came in second with a temperature […] Read more


Photo: Getty Images

Heavy rain — where does all that water come from?

When a thunderstorm rolls in on a warm summer day, there’s an awful lot of water over your head

Reading Time: 3 minutes In the last issue we went into some detail on how thunderstorms develop, and how they can go from your average summer day thunderstorm to a severe thunderstorm. Thunderstorms can bring a wide variety of severe weather with them: heavy rains, hail, high winds, lightning, and, on some occasions, tornadoes. After an extended period of […] Read more

This map shows the total amount of precipitation that has fallen across the Prairies so far this agricultural year (which runs from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31) compared to historical amounts. Most regions have seen near-average amounts of precipitation, with only a few small pockets in south-central Alberta and Manitoba receiving below average. Wet areas were found along the northern edges and in southeastern Saskatchewan.

Why Alberta gets more than its fair share of hail

The number or size of thunderstorms is less important than how close the freezing layer is to the ground

Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s time to continue our series of articles on different types of severe summer weather. I like to re-examine these topics every year or two due to the importance of understanding the different types of severe weather, and also because most people find this aspect of weather so fascinating. In this issue we are going to […] Read more


This map shows the total amount of precipitation that has fallen across the Prairies so far this growing season compared to historical values. It continues to be a dry start to the growing season across nearly 
all of Manitoba and much of Saskatchewan, with wide areas reporting values that are very low to extremely low. 


Diving a little deeper into summer weather and tornadoes

Tornadoes are nearly impossible to study but we do know a lot 
about the mechanics of how they form

Reading Time: 3 minutes In this instalment, we’ll continue our look at severe thunderstorms, and specifically, the most deadly part — tornadoes. While eastern parts of the Prairies have only seen a few isolated severe thunderstorms, parts of Saskatchewan and Alberta have already seen their fair share. I think most Canadians were more than impressed, and maybe a little bit […] Read more

This map shows the amount of precipitation compared to average that fell across the Prairies over the 30-day period ending on May 25. It continues to be a tale of east versus west, with most of Alberta reporting average to above-average amounts, while in Manitoba amounts have been well below average. In Saskatchewan, southern and eastern regions have been dry while northern sections have been wet.

Tornado season is upon us — here’s what to watch for

The area between the storm and cloud, clouds with bags hanging from them, and the wind are keys in spotting the danger

Reading Time: 3 minutes So far in our look at severe summer weather, and in particular thunderstorms, we have looked at how thunderstorms form, how they can grow into severe thunderstorms, and finally, how hail is produced. Next up on the severe thunderstorm list is tornadoes! Before we begin our look at tornadoes though, I think we have to […] Read more


This graphic shows the total number of severe summer weather events that took place across the Prairie provinces in 2016. A quick look at the graph shows that hail was the main severe weather event last summer. Manitoba led the way with 147 hail events and Alberta came in a close second with 144 events.

When it came to severe weather, Alberta (thankfully) was no. 2

We still had nearly twice as many ‘hail events’ as usual, 
but Manitoba was worse off for once


Reading Time: 3 minutes The new year comes with the usual list of Top 10 things about the previous year, and in the category of weather, this really appears to be the case. There are the Top 10 Prairie weather stories, Top 10 Canadian weather stories, and the Top 10 world weather stories (which often tend to be skewed […] Read more

Photo: Lorraine Stevenson

Salvaging hail-damaged crops

Storm damage to crops can result in problems with nitrate accumulations, especially if the crops were heavily fertilized or manured in the spring to optimize yield. “With volatile weather comes storm damage and, for some producers, this means salvaging crops for feed,” says Andrea Hanson, beef extension specialist, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, Airdrie. Hanson cautions […] Read more