Starting to understand tornadoes

This week we’ll continue our look at severe thunderstorms, and specifically, the most deadly part: tornadoes. What are tornadoes and how do they form? A classic definition of a tornado is a violently rotating column of air that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground, which may or may not be visible as a funnel

Severe summer weather: Wind

With the return of summer-like heat last week we also saw the return of severe summer weather. Plenty of thunderstorms rumbled across the Prairies, bringing examples of all of the different types of severe weather we can expect to see. There was plenty of lightning, hail, some really strong winds, heavy rains and, last but


Thunderstorms and hail

I find it kind of interesting, and maybe a little weird, that in the last issue I indicated that this issue would be about thunderstorms and hail, and then during the last week areas around Winnipeg experienced thunderstorms with hail — I even had some at my place. I think this week I should end

Monitoring thunderstorm movement

Storms can strengthen or weaken as they move. Use online and visual tools to track their movements


In the last issue we continued our look at thunderstorms and severe summer weather by examining the direction thunderstorms move. In this issue we’ll learn how to determine the strength of a thunderstorm. Pretty much any storm can produce severe weather. If there are severe thunderstorm watches or warnings out, and you see a storm


Looking at severe summer weather

Usually around this time of the year my mind turns to summer and summer weather. In particular, I start to think about thunderstorms and severe summer weather. This year, with the summer-in-March weather pattern, we saw some really early thunderstorms, but with the cooler April weather pattern things have settled down. Now, I don’t want

Thunderstorms And Hail

With plenty of severe weather occurring all across the Canadian Prairies this summer, I thought we should go back and take a look at some of the aspects of severe summer weather. The first thing that pops into my mind when it comes to severe summer weather is thunderstorms.Thunderstorms can bring several types of destructive


Time To Think About Severe Weather

Last issue we began our look into severe weather and ended our discussion by introducing tornadoes. Over the last week there have been several outbreaks of severe weather over central and eastern parts of the U.S., with dozens of tornadoes reported and nearly 50 people killed. While this is still well to our south, it

Severe Weather Season About To Begin

In trying to decide what weather tidbit we should look at this week, I hummed and hawed about the ongoing flooding, but decided the regular news is covering that topic nicely. So far this spring has been fairly uneventful, with little in the way of unusual weather. It hasn’t been overly cold and it definitely


Rain, Snow, Tornadoes

The Weather Vane is prepared by Daniel Bezte, a teacher by profession with a BA (Hon.) in geography, specializing in climatology, from the University of Winnipeg. Daniel has taught university-level classes in climate and weather and currently operates a computerized weather station at his home near Birds Hill Park, on 10 acres he plans to

Severe Weather: Tornadoes

The Weather Vane is prepared by Daniel Bezte, a teacher by profession with a B. A. (Hon.) in geography, specializing in climatology, from the University of Winnipeg. Daniel has taught university-level classes in climate and weather and currently operates a computerized weather station at his home near Birds Hill Park, on 10 acres he plans