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Thirteenth tornado of season touches down in Waywayseecappo, flipping bus and putting Manitoba over the top
Manitoba may have unofficially set a rather dubious weather record.
With three more tornadoes touching down on Monday, this year's total has reached a total of 13 to date, Environment Canada meteorologist Terri Lang confirmed Tuesday.
The highest previous total Lang could find was nine back in 2013.
While early reports said there were actually four tornadoes in Manitoba on Monday, the fourth could not be confirmed, Lang said.
"Sometimes, what people think are tornadoes are land spouts," she said. "And there were a lot of land spouts, not tornadoes, last year."
There were only eight confirmed tornadoes in Manitoba last year, Lang said.
So, why the sudden increase this year?
"It's been a very active year, with more moisture than there was last year," Lang said. "And with that moisture, there is more positive feedback. When the moisture in the ground evaporates, it causes more storms. Crops are also growing better here, which is also giving off more moisture this year than last year when it was very dry.
"Plus the overall patterns from the Gulf of Mexico this year, it's just been too much."
So, whether Manitoba gets even more tornadoes this year will depend on that moisture.
Comment: See also this footage taken at ground level: Waterspout forms over Lake Manawa, Iowa