Saskatchewan saw only one tornado this year. Is it a sign of things to come?

Saskatchewan broke a record for the number of tornadoes we saw this year.

A low record, that is.

Only one tornado touched down. That was in May south of Regina. It did damage to a farm, but didn't cause any injuries.

Annual tornado records go back to 1984. There are fluctuations year to year, but no year has been as low as 2023.

It's a far cry from last year's twister tally, which was 25. The highest was 33 in 2012. The average is about 13.5.

Terri Lang, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, says the dryness of spring and summer contributed to the low count.

"If it's dry, the crops don't give off as much moisture," said Lang. "And [moisture is] a big contributor to the thunderstorms that we see across the Prairies in the summer."

WATCH | Record set for lowest yearly tornado count in Sask.:

Lang said typical weather patterns that bring rain and trigger storms also passed us by as the season progressed.

Lightning statistics — which go back to 2002 — showed while Saskatchewan was above normal for strikes in May and June, we saw the least strikes recorded in any July this year.

Lang says forest fire smoke may have prevented tornadoes, too.

The smoke blocks the sun's rays from heating the earth. That heat is needed to produce thunderstorms that can produce tornadoes.

Numerous locations in the province broke smoke records this year. From May 1 to Sept. 5, Saskatoon recorded 282 smoke hours — an hour where smoke reduces visibility to below 9.7 kilometres — breaking the record of 165 in 1981.

La Ronge surpassed the 800-hour mark, shattering its record of 513 set in 2015 and topping smoke hours seen elsewhere on the Prairies.