Tornado and storm warnings short-lived for southeast Sask.

Southeast Saskatchewan was once again under threat of severe weather Monday evening.

Severe thunderstorm watches had been up for much of the afternoon. Then Environment Canada issued a couple of severe thunderstorm warnings, along with a tornado warning just before 3:30 p.m. for Yorkton, Melville, Esterhazy and the surrounding area. The tornado warning was ended a little over an hour later, but the severe thunderstorms warnings continued until about 8 p.m.

Around 6:20 a photo was posted to Twitter by a storm chaser, purporting to show a tornado which had touched down near Saltcoats. Though there was no confirmation from Environment Canada on Monday night.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Brief touchdown. NW of saltcoats. 6:18pm. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/skstorm?src=hash”>#skstorm</a> <a href=”https://t.co/cLFTDRiHaY”>pic.twitter.com/cLFTDRiHaY</a></p>&mdash; Katie Vickers (@katielyn_213) <a href=”https://twitter.com/katielyn_213/status/762806024654827521″>August 9, 2016</a></blockquote>
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There was also a report of a possible funnel cloud about 140 kilometres north of there, near Norquay.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Possible Funnel Clouds South Of Norquay <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/skstorm?src=hash”>#skstorm</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/TornadoGreg”>@TornadoGreg</a> <a href=”https://t.co/1zHzS4fZft”>pic.twitter.com/1zHzS4fZft</a></p>&mdash; DJ StreetVybz 306 (@djstreetvybz306) <a href=”https://twitter.com/djstreetvybz306/status/762801503698509824″>August 9, 2016</a></blockquote>
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As the storm system moved through southwestern Manitoba four twisters touched down in that province. One tornado damaged as seven homes on the Waywayseecappo First Nation. One home was completely destroyed and 70 people had to seek shelter elsewhere. The Red Cross is sending volunteers to the nearby town of Russell, Manitoba to provide food and shelter to the people displaced from their homes.

With files from the Canadian Press