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Storm chasers Team Tanner capture first storm of season

Dar Tanner followed the storm east of Edmonton all the way past Cold Lake
Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye
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This large storm cell captured near Bonnyville was one of the bigger ones that storm chaser Dar Tanner has photographed. Storm chasers travelled to east central Alberta to witness the event that swept through the area. Photo by Team Tanner

Storm chaser Dar Tanner of Team Tanner was one of the chasers who captured the first big storm of the season.

Team Tanner is made up of two photographers, Dar and Theresa, and they capture Alberta’s summer storms and northern lights.

The large storm cells that blew through east central Alberta on Saturday took Dar from east of Edmonton to past Cold Lake.

“I went north of Cold Lake to where there was the end of the road,” said Tanner.

And the road literally ended, causing her to be stuck in heavy winds for some time.

“I had to wait for the storm to pass me at the end. I got caught in 120 km/h straight line winds,” explained Tanner.

Being stuck at the end of the road was definitely a scary moment for Dar, who said the car rocked back and forth during the heavy winds. That being said, it was also one of the first times she was able to take a break.

“I guess I’ll make a sandwich while I’m in here,” said Dar of the moment, which is exactly what she did.

Storm chasing isn’t for the faint of heart. She was on the chase for 13 hours; from just after lunch till about 1 a.m. with more than 1,000 kms logged.

It wasn’t a waste of time though, Dar was able to capture a video on Twitter of a small funnel west of Two Hills that was used by the Weather Network.

She also captured a large supercell.

Dar’s chase took her all over the area where she met up with other chasers plus meteorologists with Environment Canada who immediately recognized the Team Tanner car.

One of those meteorologists is the person who works at the Prairie and Arctic Storm Prediction Centre. “They’re the ones who confirm if there’s a tornado or not.”

Most of the time Dar was chasing larger storms and super cells. Along with these large weather events come the more damaging aspects.

“There were big trees and they were just snapped in half,” said Dar.

A lot of the damage seen was caused by the heavy straight-line winds, she added.

Also in the more southern parts of Alberta was wind damage.

While Team Tanner usually travels together, Theresa was unable to make it due to scheduling conflicts.

“Even though only one of us could go at the time, we’re still a team,” said Dar.

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Storm chasers travelled to Bonnyville and Cold Lake on Saturday to capture the first big summer storm of the season, which brought heavy winds and hail, plus caused some damage to the area. Also affected were parts of southern Alberta. Photo by Team Tanner