I have a certain amount of respect for storm chasers.
They take some fantastic photos and videos of thunderstorms and other weather phenomena. We praise the material they gather. And it takes a certain level of courage to go into those situations to begin with.
Yes, tornados and severe thunderstorms can cause damage to property and harm to people, but we have all, at some point, marvelled at a photo or a video taken during severe weather.
I found out once again last Thursday that I am not cut out to be a storm chaser.
If you’ve spent any amount of time in this province during the spring and summer months, you have encountered severe weather at some point. When I spent my summers visiting family in the Maple Creek and Weyburn areas as a child, I experienced plenty of powerful thunderstorms that brought heavy rain, and thunder and lightning, that created an impressive sound and light show.
The severe thunderstorm that hit southeast Saskatchewan last week might not have been the dangerous I’ve seen, but it’s among the worst. And I had a front row, driver’s side seat for it.
I had just finished taking photos at the senior women’s golf tournament at the TS&M Woodlawn Golf Course when my phone made a loud noise. Tornado warning. Stay inside. Seek shelter in a safe location.
Rather than doing the smart thing and following instructions, I dashed to my car to try to beat the storm and make it home. After all, I needed to put the story about the tornado warning on our website as soon as possible, for the benefit of the community.
I knew I had made a mistake when the rain hit before I reached the park exit onto Highway 47. I wasn’t going to make it home.
So I did what seemed to be a smart move. I decided to try to drive back to the clubhouse, and seek shelter. My car went off the park access road just before the first turn. I somehow avoided the trees, and found myself nestled among the trees.
Now, when you’re young, you’re taught that in the event of a thunderstorm, it’s not a good idea to seek shelter under a tree. But that group of trees likely helped protect my car from the full brunt of the hail that hit the park.
So I sat there. And I waited. And waited. The hail pelted my car. They said it was loonie or golf-ball-sized hail driven by powerful winds. It could have been baseball-sized hail from my perspective, although, as stated before, the trees likely provided some protection.
It wasn’t a long storm, either. People will tell you in those types of situations that it felt like it lasted longer than it really did. This storm lasted less than 30 minutes. And I’ll say it felt like it was less than 30 minutes.
But there were the thoughts racing through my mind, such as whether my car would be damaged by the hail, whether it would be hit by lightning, whether it would be struck by a falling branch or even a tree, and whether my car would be lifted into the air by a tornado.
None of that happened.
Once the storm passed, I exited my vehicle, determined how far it would be to the access road, and got on the access road so that I could do what any reporter would do in that situation: take photos.
Our sports reporter, Corey Atkinson, took some particularly impressive pictures that can be found on the Estevan Mercury’s website.
(The dedicated park employees and volunteers who cleaned up the storm damage on Friday could likely see where my vehicle went off the road, and eventually re-entered. Sorry for the mess).
Needless to say, if there’s a job opening on Greg Johnson’s Tornado Hunter crew, I won’t be joining.
I do consider myself fortunate. It was a harrowing experience being in the storm, but I wasn’t injured. My vehicle wasn’t damaged. My home wasn’t damaged by the storm, either.
I feel bad for those who have sustained property damage. And I applaud those who helped clean up the areas damaged by the storm.
And we should all be grateful to the SaskPower employees who worked long hours following the storm to restore power, since much of the southeast corner of the province was without electricity for several hours.
But you can be sure that the next time there’s a tornado warning, I’ll be seeking shelter in the nearest possible area.
