Earlier this spring, the weather and radar station at Radisson, near Saskatoon, was relaunched after upgrades were done by Environment Canada. Now, the plan is to upgrade the weather station near Bethune next year.

“We’re certainly seeing Radisson being a much better radar in that more reliability, and these new radars will be because the radar that's out there right now is quite outdated,” explained Terri Laing with Environment Canada. The new radar systems have a wider coverage area and allow for better analysis of weather systems. This includes rotation within the clouds which is often a predictor of tornadoes.

The Bethune radar station covers the majority of southern Saskatchewan, including the Weyburn area. Stationed near Buffalo Pound Lake, it has been in operation for a number of years but has seen outages at times due to maintenance, or equipment failures. The most recent outage at Bethune was in January, when a wind storm damaged the radome, knocking it out of commission.

While the work is being done at the Bethune site next summer, the radar there will be turned off. Laing reassured the southern portion of the province won’t be without radar coverage thanks to the upgrades done this year.

“With Radisson, it was upgraded; right now Foxwarren is being upgraded. So, with those two being done, that will give extra coverage while the new radar is being upgraded,” she explained.

Overall, the radar will improve the forecasts, with more frequent scans, as well as Doppler capabilities.

--with files from discovermoosejaw.com