A local storm-chaser experienced a day to remember last Wednesday while many Manitoba communities were under a tornado warning.
Ethan Caners of Stony Mountain had been tracking the storm and keeping an eye on forecasts, which prompted tornado warnings in municipalities including Morden, Winkler, Stanley, Victoria, Glenboro-South Cypress, North Cypress-Langford, Oakland-Wawanesa, Neepawa, Carberry and Lorne.
Tribune Photos by Ethan Caners
On Wednesday, June 12, he picked up fellow storm-chaser Bradyon Morrisseau from the airport to began their pursuit.
“He’s Canada’s best chaser, in my opinion,” Caners said. “We tag-teamed together.”
They drove to Portage la Prairie and picked up another chaser, Jordan Carruthers, as well as a friend named Ethan Haggard also came along for the experience.
“We got on one storm that we saw form on the Saskatchewan border and then we kept following it. We followed that individual cell for about 2.5 hours,” said Caners, who has been chasing storms across Canada and the United States for the past two years.
“It produced four tornadoes while we were following it. The first three tornadoes all spawned almost simultaneously with each other near Rivers, Manitoba, but the main one spawned in Swan Lake.”
The tornadoes in Rivers were relatively weak, he said, but that wasn’t the case for the system in Swan Lake.
“The one in Swan Lake did some damage. That one was a little scary for me since my sister lives in Swan Lake right now, so I was on the phone with her, giving her updates, telling her to get downstairs and making sure she was OK,” he said.
“It mainly damaged the powwow stadium in Swan Lake. It also hit a barn northwest of Swan Lake, which we heard about later.”
In an effort to keep safe, Caners said they mainly rely on visual cues.
“You watch how the storm is moving, and you position yourself in a good area. You make sure you have escape options if you need,” he said.
“We maintained a safe distance from this one because we realized that this could be a strong tornado.”
Beyond the local storms, Caners also keeps an eye on tornadoes throughout the United States. Several weeks ago, he chased a tornado in North Dakota. And earlier in the year, he chased a high-risk tornado in Oklahoma, where he also spent about eight hours helping with search-and-rescue efforts amid the destruction.
But when he reflects on all the storms he’s seen, last week’s tornadoes top the charts for Caners — and he expects another tornado could be on its way to Manitoba before long.
“It was probably the best day we’ve had so far ever,” he said. “I think I’ll be chasing Manitoba again soon.”
