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Environment and Climate Change Canada has established a mobile upper-air station in Saskatoon to collect data aimed at improving severe weather forecasts across the Prairies.
The station will launch a weather balloon every weekday throughout the summer.
The balloons carry instruments that measure conditions through different levels of the atmosphere, providing meteorologists with information used to assess the potential for severe storms.
Environment Canada said the additional observations will help forecasters better predict tornadoes, damaging wind gusts, large hail and torrential rainfall capable of causing flooding.
The information will also help meteorologists monitor thunderstorms that could produce lightning and ignite wildfires.
The federal weather agency said the Saskatoon station is intended to improve the accuracy of Prairie forecasts during the summer severe weather season.
No timeline was provided for how long the mobile station will remain in Saskatoon.
