This tornado touched down near Maidstone on Friday. (submitted/Warren Furman)

By battlefordsNOW Staff

Fearsome funnel

‘Exhilarating’: local describes seeing tornado up close

Jul 10, 2022 | 9:28 AM

A motorist driving through the Maidstone area had as close a view of Friday’s tornado as one can get.

Warren Furman told battlefordsNOW that he was disappointed he didn’t get a glimpse of the system that made its way by Maymont a few weeks ago and was watching for another development.

“It was so humid, I figured today’s the day if I’m going to see one,” he said. “There was nothing prior to when I stopped, so I’m glad I did.”

While driving deliveries, Furman noticed a developing funnel cloud and pulled over. What he witnessed was one of four tornados in Saskatchewan that afternoon.

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He said it was unlike anything he’d seen in his life and decided to stay a bit longer to document what he saw, adding that he went through a range of feelings while it took place. Chief among them were excitement, and fear.

“There was one point where I got a little worried,” he said. “It was exhilarating though.”

Furman noted he remembered everything he could about tornados from what he’d read and listened to.

“I’m not a professional, but I was watching where the clouds were moving and I’d heard the danger sometimes is by focusing just on what’s in front of you,” he said. “Sometimes there can be danger behind you, so I was constantly looking to see if anything was coming. At its closest [the tornado] was about a kilometre away, so it was pretty real.”

“Having only ever seen tornados in movies before, I can say, it’s pretty accurate and I learned a lot from it. It’s a sound that’s unique, which I can best describe as kind of like a vacuum.”

Warnings were put out by Environment Canada that afternoon, advising residents to find shelter. Furman said to the best of his knowledge, that there was nothing catastrophic in terms of damage, but he couldn’t confirm that. At this time, there have been no stories regarding major damage to property, or any instances of injuries.

“I hope that’s the case because it was pretty big,” Furman said. “It was hard to tell, but you can almost see smaller things moving in the area.”

He also documented some other details regarding the tornado, including that it lasted roughly 12 minutes. Furman also noted that the temperature dropped from 31°C to 23°C.

“At the end of the tornado I could feel it cooling off quickly,” he said. “I guess that’s to be expected with upper atmospheric air.”

Furman added that he’ll continue to keep an eye out for tornados in the future and commented on how quickly this made the news.

“Within 15 minutes of getting to the next destination of my deliveries, people had seen it on Facebook,” he said. “Kudos to social media for getting it out there, because someone who was downwind could have seen it.”

Other developments

In addition to the Maidstone area tornado, a funnel cloud developed by Blaine Lake.

Photographer Jeff Wizniak posted an image of the cloud developing in that area, which was his first time seeing a tornado.

The only reports of damage were in the Blaine Lake region.

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cjnbnews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW