Tornado season is in full swing in Saskatchewan. Globalnews.ca

Saskatchewan is in the middle of summer hurricane season and there’s a storm chaser in the middle of it all.

Saskatoon-based Ricky is the star of the Forbes show tornado Hunter, And that follows some of the wildest storms in North America.

“Spring and summer, my life revolves around these storms and these tornado chases and then the rest of the year I talk about those storms in schools and businesses,” Forbes said. “A lot of fun. I like to chase the storm.”

While Forbes enjoys the thrill of the chase, he does it more for safety.

“These are some of the wildest storms on the planet that we are following,” he said.

“When you’re right next to these storms there’s a lot of adrenaline but in reality we’re not there. We’re reporting on these storms, calling them out to the community, these storms are around so they can be safe. Simultaneously document these storms.”

And for many in Saskatchewan, it can seem like there have been a lot more storms this year than last year. That’s because there is.

like.

As of July 25, 18 tornadoes have occurred in Saskatchewan. Throughout 2021, Saskatchewan only had six.

“For the past few years, and especially last year, we have experienced warmer than normal conditions in the province in addition to smoke and drier than normal conditions,” said Sarah Hoffman, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. “Those three things combined put a damper on the severe storm.”

But there has been a sharp increase in tornadoes since last year, an average true for historic Saskatchewan summers.

“In Saskatchewan we see an average of about 17 tornadoes each year,” she said.

Last July, there was no tornado in Saskatchewan. The last time that happened was 1959.

In 2021, dry conditions did not allow for much moisture, a key component in both thunderstorms and tornadoes.

“Cold air wants to sink and warm air wants to rise,” Hoffman said. “That leads to a lot of turbulent mixing, and we call that atmospheric instability. Too much atmospheric instability will lead to tornado formation.”

As Saskatchewan moves into the second half of summer, he expects more severe storms to continue as we move into a heat wave across the province.

Both Forbes and Hoffman want to remind people to be on the alert in the event of any storm, heed the warnings in your area, and in case of a tornado, find shelter and move to the lowest point.

4:11Storm chaser Ricky Forbes on active weather in Saskatchewan