Environment Canada expects to launch an updated alerting system for thunderstorms and tornadoes as early as Tuesday — a change welcomed by Canadian forecasters, researchers and residents affected by twisters in the last few months.
The federal department says it’s modernizing the alerting system, moving away from regional alerts to targeted alert areas, also known as “free form polygons,” Environment and Climate Change Canada spokesperson Brandon Clim told CBC News in an email Friday.
“This will allow forecasters to outline the area most likely to be affected by a severe thunderstorm or tornado and send a warning only to people located in that area,” he said.
Clim says the change will allow people in Canada to get alerts that are faster and more geographically precise. The updated alerts will only apply to severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings, he said.
“All other weather alerts will continue to be issued to predetermined zone-based areas,” Clim said.
“This will give everyone the information they need to act quickly and stay safe.”
Environment Canada did not make anyone available for an interview but said experts would have more to share once the department had launched the system.
WATCH | New weather alerting system coming:
Environment Canada to launch updated thunderstorm, tornado alerting system
Environment and Climate Change Canada expects to launch an updated alerting system for thunderstorms and tornadoes as early as Aug. 11. It’s a change welcomed by Manitoba forecasters, researchers and residents affected by twisters in the last few months.
Clim cautioned it could be delayed, including because of severe active weather.
Environment Canada is encouraging Canadians to download its WeatherCan app or visit its website for more reliable alerts.
How will it work?
The polygon-based alerting system is the best and most up-to-date warning system for thunderstorms and tornadoes, according to John Hanesiak, professor of atmospheric science at the University of Manitoba.
The National Weather Service in the United States has been using the system for many years, said Hanesiak, who collaborates with the Northern Tornadoes Project based at Ontario’s Western University.
John Hanesiak, professor of atmospheric science at the University of Manitoba, displays an example of a polygon on a map, similar to what could be used by Environment Canada. (Rosanna Hempel/CBC)
Forecasters draw polygons on digital maps to outline storms and where they’re going, which are then used to alert cell towers, and the phones connected to them, according to the selected area, Hanesiak said.
“They can extend the polygon out to a certain distance depending on how fast the storm is moving, potentially. So, it would cover everybody that’s downstream from the storm and might be impacted within the next half an hour or 45 minutes,” he said.
“That tornado warning would apply to a much smaller area, just where the storm is located.”
As of mid-July, Manitoba had experienced 10 tornadoes so far in 2026, above the 30-year average of 8.5 per year, according to the Northern Tornadoes Project.
“Considering all the bad weather we’ve had, it’s a good news story, I think, for Canada to have this new system in place,” Hanesiak said.
‘Boy who cried wolf’
Brandon-based forecaster Justin Oertel said he hopes the change prevents alert fatigue, calling it “catastrophic” if people didn’t heed warnings about a dangerous threat.
In June, people in Winnipeg reported getting dozens of cellphone alerts for thunderstorm and tornado threats that weren’t nearby, including for two tornadoes that touched down 30 to 50 kilometres south of the city.
“When warnings are falling on deaf ears because there’s just so many warnings that are happening, and there’s no severe weather attached to those warnings in your certain location, that really becomes a failure on my part, if I’m forecasting,” said Oertel, who created the Weather Centre of Manitoba.
“This old system of how warnings are being issued is outdated, and these storm-based polygons is the future,” he told CBC Manitoba’s Radio Noon guest host Julie Buckingham.
Residents in southwest Winnipeg affected by a small tornado in late June said they were encouraged by the updated system.
Rick Ryplanski didn’t get an alert for the twister that damaged his house but received many others for tornadoes that weren’t anywhere close.
“It’s kind of the boy who cried wolf when you keep on hearing it, and you look outside, and there’s nothing…. You kind of tune it out,” he said.
Ryplanski’s neighbour across the street, Jenna Johnson, agreed.
“If there’s too many alerts, people don’t take them as seriously. So, if you know that the alerts are geo-targeted, then I would assume you’d be more aware when your phone is going off,” she said.
Jenna Johnson’s house in southwest Winnipeg was damaged by a tornado in late June. (Rosanna Hempel/CBC)
The tornado knocked down trees into Johnson’s yard, smashed through windows and tore through her roof.
Johnson says that thankfully, she and her husband and toddler were away that night.
“Our neighbours said they got no warning. So, they were just hanging out in their kitchen, and all of a sudden, there was big bangs, and they said it lasted for all of about 15 seconds. So, there was so much pressure from the winds that they felt like their ears were going to pop,” she said.
Hanesiak suspects the federal weather radar system might not have picked up the smaller tornado due to “outdated” technology he said is lagging behind the U.S.
“It’s really hard in some cases for the [Canadian] forecasters to actually see rotation in the storms,” he said, adding the images can be noisy and lack detail.
