Potential for active weather continues in the Prairies

Thursday, June 13, 2013, 11:44 AM -

It was an eventful Wednesday for Alberta as a series of tornado watches and warnings were issued for several parts of the region. 

Funnel clouds, golf ball sized hail and heavy rain were reported and city crews in Edmonton are working to clear flooded streets and intersections. 

Marble sized hail littering the roads north of medicine hat #abstorm twitter.com/RichardGottard…

— Richard Gottardo (@RichardGottardo) June 12, 2013

Clouds in red deer #abstorm twitter.com/AlyshaWoodford…

— Alysha Woodford (@AlyshaWoodford) June 13, 2013

The stormy conditions were caused by a large and slow moving dip in the jet stream—called an upper level trough—moving across B.C. 

The warnings have since been dropped, but the less-than-ideal weather will carry on for parts of the Prairies.

"Unsettled weather will continue into Friday as a low pressure system will stall over western Saskatchewan and linger into the start of the weekend," says Chris Scott, Chief Meteorologist at The Weather Network.

Next week, the computer models are suggesting a more significant period of severe thunderstorms may occur in the Monday/Tuesday timeframe and this activity would also affect Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

"We’ll be watching the weather pattern over the next few days to see how this plays out, but there is no question we are entering the meat of severe weather season across the Prairies, and a big event next week is certainly possible," adds Scott.

Thursday's thunderstorm risk

Fort McMurray Flooding

The rainy weather could intensify the flooding situation occurring at Fort McMurray. 

Precipitation throughout last week has drenched Fort Mac and their situation could get worse before it gets any better as a low pressure system developing along the Alberta/Saskatchewan border could park itself over the region for a couple of days. 

"Exactly what this means for the flooding situation is unclear, as Alberta Environment monitoring gauges on the Hangingstone River have shown a drop in water levels in the last day," Scott said. "However, if river levels don’t drop enough before the next round of rain, the flooding situation could be exacerbated."

The mayor of Fort McMurray says workers and volunteers are sandbagging the city's Heritage Park and working on diking to protect the local high school and college.

A state of emergency and a boil-water order for the area were declared Tuesday due to flooding of the Hangingstone River and concern over the Clearwater River and its tributaries.

With files from The Canadian Press