The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency says this morning there are 19 wildfires burning in the province and five of those are not contained. There have been 188 fires to date and 118 is the five-year average.

The fires of note include the Vermette fire southwest of Dillon, the Shaw fire burning between Buffalo Narrows and Isle-a-la-Crosse, Wistigo fire southeast of Pinehouse Lake, the Sharp fire north of La Ronge and the KPIR02 fire south of Deschambault Lake.

While northern regions pray for rain it was the other end of the spectrum in southern Saskatchewan this weekend.

The Weather Network says severe weather cells resulted in storms which brought heavy rainfall, hail and strong winds, Environment Canada issued tornado warnings for multiple regions after receiving a report of a tornado south of Regina.

The Weather Network says on Sunday, ECCC confirmed a tornado occurred approximately 6 km southeast of Regina on Saturday evening, making it Canada’s first of the year.

Photo credit: Twitter Craig Boehm @Skstormchaser.

Environment Canada said it had not received any reports of damage so the preliminary rating for the tornado is EF-0.  However, storm chaser Craig Boehm tracked damage to a farmyard.  The main house and garage were untouched as well as much of the yard but the shop had the roof completely torn off and a main wall caved in with debris strewn across a neighbouring field.