High heat, humidity could cause more severe storms: meterologists
Posted Jul 17, 2012 05:03:05 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The extreme heat and humidity currently cooking most of Canada is expected to endure well into August – and that has the national weather agency warning Canadians to be ready for more summer storms.
Warning preparedness meteorologist Geoff Coulson says increased heat and humidity can cause more of the unsettled conditions that lead to potentially destructive systems.
“The potential for thunderstorm activity, we would see it normally, but being warmer than normal perhaps we could see a few more in the way of thunderstorms as we get through the rest of the summer,” Coulson told the Canadian Press.
Coulson says preparation for any kind of outdoor activity should include some way of monitoring the forecast and having a plan to find shelter in the event of a storm.
He says it’s also important to be able to recognize a potentially dangerous weather system.
“When thunder roars, go indoors,” he said. “If you’re close enough to hear the thunder, that’s the time to find the best shelter that you can to get out of the weather. The second part of the rule that’s equally important is to stay in the shelter you’ve found for a full 30 minutes after the last rumble of thunder to make sure the storm has moved well away from your location.”
Althouth the forecast in HRM calls for rain in the next few days, News 95.7 meteorologist Richard Zurawski says it’s unlikely Nova Scotians will see any lightning strikes.
“Fortunately not much of that happens in the Maritimes,” Zurawski told News 95.7 Tuesday. “We don’t get too many lightning storms, but they can occur. We do have a little bit of instability and of course with a little bit of warmth and humidity, tomorrow, there’s a chance of getting a thunderstorm.”
Lightning can strike without rain and up to 16 kilometers outside the storm area.
It kills between 10 and 15 Canadians every year.
A sudden storm spawned a lightning strike in Whitby, Ont., on the weekend that injured 17 people. Two men in Texas were also killed Sunday when they took shelter from a thunderstorm under a tree.
