Tornado watches in place for Regina, southeast Sask.

Friday could be a very windy day in southeastern Saskatchewan.

The tornado watches issued for southeastern Saskatchewan were put in place after Environment Canada received a report of a funnel cloud being spotted in Moose Jaw.

“There’s been some clearing there and because the air mass is so unstable, any kind of sun hitting that warm moist ground is going to bubble up really quickly. Sometimes when things bubble up really quickly like that they can spin up funnel clouds and into landspout tornadoes,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Terri Lang.

Lang asks people to keep an eye on the sky.

I was trying to catch a quick clip of the wicked thunderstorm rolling through….

Then I saw a little funnel cloud peaking through the storm south of Regina.

It has receded.

Get all your weather info at @CJMENews @CKOMNews. Our team is ready to roll in rubber boots. pic.twitter.com/EVXlCzbBpo

— Gillian Massie (@massie_gillian) June 28, 2024

“We ask people to kind of be paying attention. Watching the sky and having a way to receive warnings and alerts,” she said.

Lang said that if people see a tornado, he encourages people to report it once they find shelter.

“If you do see a tornado, get into a sturdy building into the lowest levels you can and put as many doors and walls between yourself and the outside as you possibly can. If you don’t have a basement, get into the centre most room you have. Closets are good for that,” she added.

Environment Canada issued tornado watches for Regina and the southeastern corner of the province on Friday morning, including Estevan, Weyburn and Moose Jaw, stretching west as far as Gravelbourg.

The weather service said conditions are favourable for funnel clouds to develop, and “brief, weak tornadoes” could form any time between the late morning and early evening.

“These types of tornadoes form while the thunderstorm cloud is still growing and there is no rotating updraft – the spinning motion originates near the ground,” Environment Canada explained in a statement.

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“Landspout tornadoes can be strong enough to topple trees, damage roofs or toss debris short distances.”

If a tornado occurs, Environment Canada said to go indoors to a room on the lowest floor away from exterior walls and windows.

“Leave mobile homes, vehicles, tents, trailers and other temporary or free-standing shelter, and move to a strong building if you can,” Environment Canada said. “As a last resort, lie in a low spot and protect your head from flying debris.”

According to the Northern Tornadoes Project – which was founded in 2017 at Western University – six funnel clouds formed in Saskatchewan and Manitoba during storms on June 12.

The latest on the weather alerts can be found on Environment Canada’s website.