WINNIPEG – The popularity of storm chasing continues to grow in Winnipeg despite fewer tornadoes.
“Tornadoes have been down quite extensively last year and so far this year, to the lowest number of tornadoes we had last year since the mid-1970s,” said Jay Anderson, meteorologist.
But that doesn’t faze the growing number of avid storm chasers seeking an encounter with a twister.
“They’re very impressive, they’re big, they’re destructive, they’re rare, so there’s definitely an element of trying to catch a glimpse of something that is not common,” said Brad Vrolijk with A Weather Moment.
However, some are motivated by a desire to help Environment Canada by sharing information about storms in real time so watches and warnings can be issued, said Vrolijk.
Social media is one of the primary ways this is accomplished.
“It’s definitely a completely different picture here than it was just a few years ago,” said Natalie Hasell, warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada.
More and more people who spot severe weather are sharing it on platforms like Twitter with the hashtag ‘mbstorm,’ which allows others, including Environment Canada meteorologists, to easily sort through posts about weather events.
“Not very long ago it would have taken hours, days, weeks, sometimes even months for information to come to us,” said Hasell.
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This instant access to photos and videos of severe weather has contributed to the growth of storm chasing, along with the proliferation of readily available technology to assist people trying to find active weather, said Vrolijk.
“I have fantastic apps that give me real time radar information, satellite images easily available, I have data everywhere I drive,” he said.
There has only been one tornado associated with a super cell in Manitoba this year, according to Environment Canada, while last year there were eight by the time the storm season ended.
However, storm chasers in the province have been kept busy by hail, wind and rain events.
At the halfway point in the storm season, those three categories are on pace to be much higher than last year.
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