Environment Canada says they'll launch a new weather alert system as early as Tuesday, which will allow forecasters to better define what areas will be affected by severe weather.
The new system is called a Polygon-Based Warning System. It essentially allows forecasters to draw a shape on a map, and have an alert sent out to that specific area. Currently, emergency weather alerts rely entirely on cell tower coverage areas, so there isn't that much specificity.
This new system will only be applied to extreme and severe weather, like tornado warnings. For less intense alerts, Environment Canada will still use cell tower based coverage.
So far this year in Manitoba, there have been 10 confirmed tornadoes, well above Manitoba's 30 year average of 8.5 tornadoes. This new alert system will help to give Manitobans better forecasting for weather events that are increasingly concerning.
