The Prince Albert area is again under a severe storm watch. (Andrea Smeets/Submitted)

By Rob Mahon

Severe Storm Watch

Low pressure system pushes in severe storm watch, pushes out heat

Jun 14, 2023 | 2:44 PM

A long bout of hot weather is finally passing in Prince Albert, and smoky skies are clearing up too, just in time for thunderstorms to arrive.

Environment Canada has placed Prince Albert under a severe thunderstorm watch as of Wednesday afternoon. The storm is supposed to arrive late in the afternoon but weaken at some point during the evening.

“We’ve had a low-pressure system develop through Alberta and that’s swinging some unstable weather,” said Samantha Mauti, meteorologist with Environment Canada. “Some thunderstorms are on their way and are currently occurring in southwestern Saskatchewan. So right now, Prince Albert is under a severe thunderstorm watch.”

Unusual weather has been the norm for Prince Albert in June, with temperatures well above average and smoky skies. Ironically, a severe storm might be connected to the weather dramatically calming down and returning to something resembling normal.

“That low-pressure system is definitely helping to push some of the warmer air out of the area with this cold front that’s actually bringing the thunderstorms in,” said Mauti.

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As for the smoke, Prince Albert got a steady dose of it on Monday and Tuesday, bringing down the temperatures from what were supposed to be days in the high 20s and low 30s. Whether that smoke will return, however, is harder to guess.

“Smoke is notoriously very difficult to forecast,” said Mauti. “I had a look at our smoke models for the next day or so, our smoke models don’t go too far out right now, and there is a possibility of some localized smoke. It doesn’t look like anything quite as widespread as what you saw yesterday, or as intense as what you saw yesterday.”

In addition to the temperature dropping back down to normal (the typical daytime high for this time of the month is about 22C) the low-pressure system appears to be bringing in more rain than the forecasted storm for this evening. Mauti had a cautionary note about that rain, however.

“These showers, they’re a little bit more patchy than I would say solid rain, especially through the weekend,” she said. “It looks like into the afternoon and evening hours, you could just see some showers, so I’m not seeing any high amounts, but I suppose a little bit of rain is better than no rain at all.”

Mauti added if you do hear thunder, you should get inside as quickly as possible.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP