Tornado
Details
Event title
Canada - First Saskatchewan tornado of 2026 spins north of Belle Plaine
Source
Severity
Unspecified
Event date (UTC)
2026-05-23 03:32:31
Last update (UTC)
2026-05-23 03:32:31
Area range
Local event
Address/Affected area(s)
Belle Plaine, Rural Municipality of Pense No. 160, Saskatchewan
Environment Canada is confirming a landspout tornado swirled around Belle Plaine on Friday afternoon.
The tornado is the first recorded in this year in Saskatchewan.
Several people messaged 980 CJME with photos of the tornado, saying it began twisting through around 1:30 p.m., and lasted no longer than 10 minutes.
Environment Canada meteorologist Matt Loney said are landspouts are generally considered weaker than traditional tornadoes, but people should still keep their distance.
“You really don’t have a sense of how strong it’s going to be,” he said. “I would certainly stay away from them as much as you can.”
The weather office had warned that conditions were favourable for the development of funnel clouds churning up landspout tornadoes for a large part of central and eastcentral Saskatchewan.
“Landspout tornadoes do not usually cause significant damage but can still be dangerous,” read the weather advisory. “They can be strong enough to topple trees, damage roofs or toss debris short distances.”
Loney said the low pressure system on Friday wasn’t organized like the severe tornado-producing systems.
“They’re likely not to be a tornado that everybody associates with a major storm system,” he said.
— with files from 980 CJME’s Jacob Bamhour