Weather is expected to remain calm for the next 24-48 hours according to a representative of Sask Power.
The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency is installing a generator at the Wapella water treatment plant and communicating with the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and Ministry of Health to maintain essential health services.
At least one tornado reported in southeast Saskatchewan on Friday caused extensive damage. As of 2.30 p.m. 3,511 customers (1,327 in the Moosomin district and 2,181 off in the Kipling district, primarily on the Grenfell feeder) are without power.
SaskPower said that they were able to restore power to about 5,500 customers today and are making progress on transmission repairs and damage assessments.
Power won’t be restored to customers north of Grenfell (including Sakimy FN, Cowessess FN, & Grenfell beach) and north of Moosomin (Rocanville, Welwyn and surrounding rurals) until tomorrow evening.
SaskPower added that they are working to establish ETRs for Grenfell, Wolseley, Sintaluta, Wapella and surrounding areas, however there is the potential that some customers in these communities could remain off overnight as well.
It was an active weather day in Saskatchewan on Friday. Environment Canada is reporting they received the first report of a tornado near Allan just before noon.
Allan is about 65 kilometres from Saskatoon.
“The storm started moving southeast, cycled a few times, looked like it was dying but it picked up and kept moving,” said Jesse Wagar, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Environment Canada received a report of a tornado near Young, Sask., just after 1 p.m. Friday. It moved just north east of Regina around 8:30 p.m.
The tornado reported in Allan has been confirmed, the other two are currently under investigation.
Wagar also talked about the heatwave and said that year after year, they are starting to see trends emerge on how climate change is affecting temperatures across the globe.
“We generally can’t make a connection with a specific weather event or heatwave, but we do see trends over time that temperatures are starting to increase,” Wagar said.
She added that all tornados are dangerous if one is in their vicinity.
“The type of storms we saw yesterday were definitely dangerous super cell thunderstorms that develop under specific conditions,” she said. “Any of the tornadoes that would have touched would have been incredibly dangerous.”
Wagar said that it is normal to see a high number of super cell storms going through the prairies this time of the year.
“We should have a way to receive alerts during these storms, have a plan, know what to do, what your safe place is and stay safe.”
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