Tornado warnings force Saskatchewan residents into shelters as storms sweep region

More than 100 people sought shelter in a Saskatchewan community hall for a second consecutive night after tornado warnings were issued across parts of the province.

According to CBC, residents of Aquadeo, about 40 kilometres north of North Battleford, gathered in the basement of the local hall on Friday and Saturday as severe weather alerts were sent to mobile phones.

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Environment Canada said at least a dozen communities in west-central Saskatchewan were placed under tornado warnings as storms moved across the region.

Meteorologist Kyle Ziolkowski told CBC News: "It's fairly rare, but not uncommon."

Saturday's storms brought between 20 and 40 millimetres of rain, hail as large as golf balls near Neilburg and wind gusts approaching 90 km/h near North Battleford but no tornado touchdowns were confirmed that day.

However, storm chaser Shannon Risling said she witnessed a tornado touch down on Friday while near Jackfish Lake.

"We saw the whole thing. It touched down. It went back up. It formed again. It touched down, and it was on the ground for about four minutes”, Risling said.

Environment Canada said calmer weather is expected to return this week.