Saskatchewan residents can expect more rain this week as storm season settles into the prairies. 

Environment Canada Meteorologist, Terri Lang, explained that storm season typically begins in May in southwest Saskatchewan. 

“It usually starts in May and goes all the way through to September,” she stated. “We can get some early starts some years in April and sometimes it can linger on into October.” 

Lang added that while it is hard to predict what a storm season may look like from year to year, moisture plays a large role. 

“The biggest contributor to the formation of storms on the prairies, contrary to popular belief, it's not heat, it's moisture because if the storms don't have moisture, they can't form,” she elaborated. “Heat is a contributing factor, but it's not everything, it's the moisture that's necessary. So often, if we have a dry spring, the crops have trouble growing, they don't give off as much moisture, and then we don't get as many storms.  

“Crops themselves give off a tremendous amount of moisture when they start growing, it's called evapotranspiration, and that's used by storms. So, if we have a wetter spring, we can get the crops going, the crops start giving off that moisture, and the moisture itself will help fuel more storms and so on and so on. It's a bit of a feedback mechanism.” 

She also added that although residents in the prairies can expect to see tornados during storm season, the number of funnel clouds touching down each year can vary drastically. 

Rain on the sidewalk

Lang noted that a far more common threat to consider during a severe storm is lightning. The risk of lightning is carried with every thunderstorm, while only one percent of thunderstorms produce tornadoes. 

“Some years have had as little as two tornadoes across Saskatchewan, other years we've had over 40, so it varies quite a bit,” she explained. “So, there is that risk when severe storms do form that tornadoes are. I think the biggest risk that people overlook all the time is lightning. More Canadians are killed and injured by lightning every year than by tornadoes, but people hyper-focus on tornadoes. Every thunderstorm carries that risk with lightning. And you know, the more severe storms there are, the more lightning there is associated with them and the higher the risk of injury to people.” 

The most effective way to keep yourself safe from lightning is to seek shelter during a thunderstorm. 

Individuals should ensure that they have some form of receiving severe weather notifications and seek solid shelter such as a secure building. 

“Our rule of thumb is when thunder roars, go indoors,” stated Lang. “That means if you can see lightning and hear thunder, it's time to seek shelter. Lightning can carry a very long way away from thunderstorms, at least 10 miles, and we've seen farther distances than that.”