FTLComm - Tisdale - July 17, 2000

Temperature fell to a mere two degrees at about 3:30AM while over at Hudson Bay it slipped below the zero point. Just before eight Sunday night a series of unusual flat topped clouds passed through the area suggesting some pretty cold air aloft and we were all concerned about it. Though low temperatures can be experience at any time in Saskatchewan freezing temperatures in July are rare. Though we all went out and checked our gardens this morning for frost damage it appears that it was just a close call for us here. My tomato plants and most other things looked a bit limp but they should recover. However, it is not known right now what affect this quick chill might have had on the wide variety of crops in the Hudson Bay area. The pictures on this page were all taken last evening and the outstanding wheat crop below is just West of Tisdale stretching out toward the dehydration plant. As you can see this crop is already headed out and in the process of filling up, a frost at this time could have serious consequences for quality and yield.

I guess the main reason that we all talk about the weather so much is there is so darn little we can do about it. Not only is there little we can do about it there is also so little that we know about it. Environment Canada in an attempt to cover their usual lack of awareness after the disaster at the camp ground near Red Deer Alberta explained that indeed they had issued a severe storm advisory and then a tornado warning. The warning was issued at 7:05 the tornado began destroying the campground at 7:00. This is a full hour better then a couple of years ago when it took Edmonton weather people an hour after the devastating tornado struck Edmonton killing fourteen people, for them to issue a warning. The Environment Canada spokes person Sunday said that they do not issue a warning until a tornado was actually sighted on the ground which makes one wonder if they are a historical society or what they actually saw as their role. The reason I mention this little problem is that there was complete surprise at Environment Canada this morning when Hudson Bay began showing temperatures below freezing and their spokes man today said it was only for an hour or so. With such weather awareness it seems like just another example of the wonderful work the federal government does for us all. It would seem the best thing to do when there is nothing much that a person can do is just haul yourself over to Hannigans and have a burger and a fifty-cent ice cream cone.