As extreme weather season ends, only 4 confirmed tornadoes in Manitoba this summer

As the extreme weather season nears its end in Manitoba, it appears the province may have been spared the worst this year when it comes to tornadoes.

Manitoba only recorded a handful of tornadoes through the summer, seeing far fewer of the potentially dangerous phenomena than some of its neighbouring provinces.

“We’ve only had four confirmed tornadoes so far for Manitoba for the summer of 2022,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Eric Dykes.

“We have seen a lot of tornadoes out west, with 25 in Saskatchewan, with two under investigation as of just a couple of days ago, which gives you an idea of how many tornadoes have occurred out west compared to our neck of the woods.”

Dykes says there are four ingredients needed to produce the supercell storms that could result in a tornado: moisture, unstable air, a trigger like a pressure front, and finally wind shear.

“We just haven’t had a lot of storms give us all four ingredients to give us the tornadoes this last summer,” he said.

Tornado. (Credit: Jenny Hagan and Brooklyn Hagan)

While the conditions have not been ideal for the formation of tornadoes, 2022 has been one of the wettest years on record.

Massive flooding left many communities devastated. About 190 submissions for the province’s disaster financial assistance due to spring flooding filed this year came from Winnipeg alone.

Dykes says if you see severe weather in your area, it’s important to seek shelter and travel away from the storm, as tornadoes are often accompanied by other extreme weather elements like hail.

He stresses even now, as the extreme weather season comes to an end, it’s important for members of the public to pay attention to weather warnings in the sky.

“It doesn’t mean that there’s zero chance of course, so still if we’re issuing these tornado watches and warnings, that still has just as much pull as it did in July when it’s the height of the tornado season.”