A New Era in Data and Research Related to Thunderstorm Hazards in Canada - Dr. David Sills

Dr. David Sills, Director, Northern Tornadoes Project
A high-quality comprehensive tornadoes dataset has been collected in the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) in Canada for the past 40 years. NTP’s data have been used to establish a new tornado climatology and verify tornado alerts, and research has also been undertaken to better detect and assess damaging wind events, particularly in non-urbanized areas. The Northern Hail Project (NHP) was initiated in 2022, focused initially on southern Alberta’s ‘hail alley’.
A new Canadian Severe Storms Laboratory was launched at Western University in October of 2024 with the aim of being the authority for severe thunderstorm data and research in Canada, and with NTP and NHP existing under the CSSL umbrella. A new Northern Mesonet Project was also launched at the same time, and a thunderstorm flash flood component is also planned.
This work represents a new era in the study of severe and extreme weather related to thunderstorms in Canada. This talk will describe how the NTP and NHP have evolved and succeeded, and what can be expected in the future with the new CSSL.