A special weather statement was issued for Edmonton and surrounding areas early Wednesday afternoon, as weather conditions were favourable for the development of funnel clouds.
As of 1 p.m., the weather advisory included Edmonton and regions south and east of the city to the Saskatchewan border. The advisory was dropped across Alberta on Wednesday night.
Environment Canada said the types of funnel clouds possible are generated by weak rotation under rapidly growing clouds or weak thunderstorms. The weak rotation is normally not a danger near the ground. However, there is a chance the rotation could intensify and become a weak landspout tornado.
Global Edmonton chief meteorologist Jesse Beyer said there is a slim chance one of the funnel clouds could touch down, but it’s not likely.
“If one does touch down, it can become a landspout tornado. These are weaker than supercell tornadoes, but can still reach wind speed near 100 km/h and cause some damage,” Beyer said.
“For the most part, this will be very isolated and you might see a few of these funnel clouds sticking out of the base of the clouds.
“Don’t panic but be sky aware as we head into the afternoon.”
Watch below: Global Edmonton meteorologist Jesse Beyer explains what the special weather statement means for Albertans.
Global News was sent several pictures of reported funnel cloud sightings in the Edmonton area.
One viewer sent in the picture below, which was taken outside Sturgeon Composite High School in Namao, just north of Edmonton, around the noon hour.
The school principal said a teacher was outside during lunch supervision and spotted a funnel cloud over a nearby farmer’s field. As a precaution, the students were brought inside the school.
“We have teachers all throughout the building on supervision and what we ended up doing is get the message out to those teachers to get students to come in to the centre part of our building, away from outside where the rain was going to get them, away from being able to go out and just watch the funnel cloud go by,” John Baldassarre said.
“We tried to get them inside the building, into areas that were away from where any danger could possibly occur.”
The funnel cloud popped up east of the school and moved south before dissipating about 20 minutes later, Baldassarre said.
Baldassarre said the procedure is part of the school’s safety protocol.
“We take a look at the situations as they present themselves and then we follow our procedures to make sure that students are taken care of in a safe manner.”
Landspout tornadoes do not usually cause significant damage but can still be dangerous, according to Environment Canada.
If weather conditions change and become more favourable for the development of landspout tornadoes, watches and warnings will be issued by Environment Canada.
Funnel clouds should be treated seriously and if they develop nearby, people should prepare to take shelter, Environment Canada said.
For up-to-the-minute weather statements, watches and warnings, visit Environment Canada’s website.
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