Environment Canada has confirmed that while a tornado warning was issued just before supper time Monday night, there were no actual tornadoes that touched down in the Weyburn area.  

“I don’t think there were even any funnels reported, but the reason the warning was issued was because the storm was rotating, which is always the first step to a storm being able to produce a tornado,” explained Terri Lang, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.  

The tornado warning was issued initially at 5:20 p.m. when the system was near Moreland, which is just north of the junction of Highways 6 and 13. The system was moving easterly, and storm chasers in the area were following it closely, watching for any developments.  

As the system moved, the warnings were extended to include Weyburn, Yellow Grass, McTaggart and other communities in the area. Those warnings were issued at 6:05 p.m. The system brought rain and winds to Weyburn, but the brunt of it shifted to the northeast, bypassing the city for the most part.  

“Not too much in the way of rainfall amounts – 6.6 millimetres reported at the Weyburn station there; wind gusts not even 50 kilometres an hour, which means it probably more went around the station as opposed to hitting the station,” Lang stated.  

Shortly after 6:30 p.m., the warnings were cancelled.  

While no tornadoes were produced from the system, storm watchers took advantage of the situation to capture images of the storms as it moved through the region.  

“It was a photogenic storm,” Lang said. “I’m sure a lot of people saw what we call a shelf cloud, which is sort of that you can see the horizon get really black, and then you kind of see this bright line in front of the storm, and that’s what we call the shelf cloud,” Lang said.  

While the system is beyond us, unsettled weather is still expected for much of the next few days. You can stay up to date with the latest forecast by visiting the Discover Weyburn Weather page.