Saskatchewan: Thunderstorm Forecast for Friday, June 2, 2023

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Widespread severe thunderstorms are expected across much of Southern Saskatchewan during the afternoon and evening on Friday. Current data suggest that isolated cells will pop up during the mid to late afternoon hours somewhere around Estevan and Weyburn. Based on the environment, we believe these storms have the potential to quickly reach severe levels with damaging wind gusts and large hail.

In addition to this, the storms will also be moving quite slowly so flooding could be an issue, especially in more urban areas such as Regina. We may need to introduce a ‘strong’ severe risk zone due to the hail and wind risk, however, confidence isn’t high enough at this time. We will re-evaluate that in the morning and will update our forecast if we feel it’s warranted

TORNADO RISK

The environment is also favourable for a few brief spin-ups especially in the Weyburn and Regina region when the storms are early in their lifespan. As such, we think there is a good chance that we see at least one tornado associated with these storms on Friday, but of course it isn’t guaranteed. The tornado threat will weaken later in the day as the storm mode become more linear and transitions over a strong wind gust threat.