At least 2 tornadoes reported in southwest Saskatchewan: Environment Canada

At least two tornadoes have been reported in Saskatchewan after a “broad area” of thunderstorms moved through the southern region of the province.

Environment Canada confirmed to Global News on Friday that the first was reported just north of Kindersley, Sask., near the community of Coleville at about 3:30 p.m., and the second near Denzil at about 5:30 p.m.

“We did see a broad area of thunderstorms develop yesterday afternoon across much of southern Saskatchewan and they kind of had two different shapes to them,” said Brad Vrolijk, meteorologist with Environment Canada.

According to Vrolijk, a line of thunderstorms formed south of both communities and took off.

But a second set of storms formed in the Kindsersley area and moved much more slowly, and were “there for quite a while.”

There have been no reports of damage from the potential tornado near Coleville, though video submitted to Global News shows what appears to be a tornado over the ground.

The Northern Tornadoes Project, which analyzes damage on the ground from potential tornadoes, will be heading to the region in the coming days to determine if a tornado did touch down. The organization works with Environment Canada to confirm the storms.

At about 4:30 p.m., a thunderstorm also developed over the community of Denzil and, according to Vrolijk, “just sat” over the area until about 7 p.m.

“We did get a report of a tornado from that storm at 5:30 p.m. and, in addition to that, we also got a report of golf ball-sized hail with that storm,” he said.

The agency also said it received photos and video of storm damage in the area, with video submitted to Global News showing a grain bin that appeared to have been tossed by the weather.

A confirmation of the tornadoes will come in the next few days after the Northern Tornadoes Project has attended both scenes, Vrolijk added.