Alberta tornado count surges to 26 this year, more than 50 percent above normal

Alberta has recorded 26 tornadoes as of July 21, marking a surge of over 50 percent compared to previous years, according to the Northern Tornadoes Project based at Western University in London, Ontario.

Dr. David Sills, director of the Northern Tornadoes Project and former Environment Canada weather scientist, said the team investigates and documents every suspected tornado across Canada. The project has been compiling data for nearly a decade and has nearly doubled the 30-year average number of tornadoes documented across Canada on a regular basis.

"Our goal is to detect, assess, and document every tornado that occurs across Canada, which is a big job," Sills said. "When something happens, like the tornadoes, say on Friday and Saturday in Alberta, we have teams out there investigating."

The team travels across Canada during the summer storm season when a tornado is suspected, working with Environment Canada to document intensity, length, width, and other details. In the case of the Rocky Mountain House tornado, investigators determined it may have been multiple tornadoes that caused the damage, as the destruction pattern suggested a complicated event.

Alberta's active summer storm season — marked by torrential downpours, lightning, thunder, and multiple tornadoes — has driven the elevated count well above the historical average.