Storm chaser sees three tornadoes touch down near Paynton

Storm chaser Jenny Hagan caught up with a big one Friday northwest of North Battleford.

“We’ve just seen three tornadoes touch down in the area — one north of Highway 16 (and) two south of Highway 16,” said Hagan, who was south of the Yellowhead Highway near Paynton at around 4:30 p.m.

“Right now, this storm is spinning out funnels, so it can drop another tornado at any moment.”

The sightings hadn’t been confirmed by Environment Canada at the time of publication.

The weather service issued a tornado warning for the Battlefords-Unity-Maidstone area just after 4 p.m., but lifted it shortly after 5 p.m., and replaced it with a tornado watch.

Just before 6 p.m., forecasters issued a tornado warning for the Prince Albert-Shellbrook-Duck Lake region, then added warnings for the Martensville-Warman-Rosthern region about a half-hour later.

Those were lifted just after 7 p.m.

Earlier in the day, Environment Canada had issued tornado watches for Saskatoon and areas of central Saskatchewan. Those were removed as the night wore on.

Hagan warned everyone in the Paynton area to seek shelter when the storms were in the area.

“Right now, the sky is very dark and roiling; you can see the clouds moving in front of you …,” she said. “There’s not a lot of rain at the moment, so these funnels are just popping out at different spots in this storm.”

Severe thunderstorm warnings and watches remained in place for other regions in the province, including Regina, Moose Jaw, Estevan, Weyburn and Swift Current.

“Severe thunderstorms are expected to develop in southern Saskatchewan and Montana late this afternoon/early this evening,” said the advisory for the Regina area. “These thunderstorms will last throughout the evening, and into the overnight hours.

“Golf ball-sized hail is expected along with strong gusty winds up to 100 km/h.”

The latest weather alert information is available on Environment Canada’s website.

— With files from 650 CKOM’s Lara Fominoff