A thunderstorm may be following closely after this hot weather. (ID 130704474 © Menno van der Haven | Dreamstime.com)

By Rob Mahon

Heat to Storm

Hot weather could give way to storm tonight

Jul 13, 2022 | 3:00 PM

Scorching hot weather is about to break, and that means that throughout much of Saskatchewan the conditions are just right for a storm. That includes the Prince Albert area.

A heat warning for the region is expected to end Wednesday night, and when it does there’s a good chance some stormy weather is following close behind.

“People associate heat with thunderstorms and think every time we get heat, we’re going to get thunderstorms,” said Terri Lang, regional meteorologist with Environment Canada. “That’s not necessarily the case. We get the thunderstorms when the heat starts to break down, and today we’re expecting the heat to break down later today.”

With that in mind, Environment Canada believes there could be storms in Prince Albert late this evening and into tonight. Their forecast calls for a 60 per cent chance of showers and a risk of a thunderstorm as the overnight low drops to around 10C.

“Forecasting exactly where severe storms are going to be is an inexact science,” Lang said. “I equate it to watching a pot of water boiling. We know, somewhere in the pot, there’s going to be some thunderstorms but where the first one is going to bubble up, you don’t know, and you don’t know where the next bubble is going to come.”

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With the heat warning likely to end tomorrow, and then return as quickly as it left, there will soon be another chance of thunderstorms. A hot weekend in the Prince Albert area could be swiftly followed by another small break in the heat.

“Models don’t agree when the heat is going to break,” said Lang. “It’s either going to break on Sunday or Monday, so we can expect more storms then. Keeping an eye out for that, but it looks like it’s going to be quite the hot weekend.”

Though there have been more severe storms in Saskatchewan this year than last, there’s no certainty yet about how strong tonight’s storm could be if there is one.

“We ask people have that awareness. We know the capability is there for the atmosphere to produce these storms. We ask people to have a way to receive alerts.”

Lang added there have been more tornados this season so far than in the last couple of years, but this year is more like an average summer whereas the last two, because of how dry it was, saw far fewer storms than would be considered normal.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP