Severe storms lab uses satellite imagery, AI to discover otherwise undetected tornadoes
CBC
The Canadian Severe Storms Laboratory (CSSL) has been operating for a year now. It's a nationwide project based at Western University, where data from scientists and engineers across the country are used to study extreme weather and help communities better prepare for future events.
London Morning host Andrew Brown checked in with Western's Northern Tornadoes Project director David Sills to find out what they've learned so far.
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Andrew Brown: I want to start with this lab. What is it?
David Sills: We started the Northern Tornadoes project back in 2017, and that's been a big success. We're detecting more tornadoes than ever now.
In 2022, we started the Northern Hail Project, and it's mostly busy in Alberta, where the biggest hail problem is. And they've been out every year chasing storms, collecting the hail behind them before it melts, and learning lots about hail.
Then in 2024, we started a new project called the Northern Mesonet Project. That looks at regional weather networks, collecting data to support all of the work that we're doing across the country. Actually, there's a network of 3,000 live stations across the country that we're pulling together. And all of this is now under the umbrella of the(CSSL).
What's unique about the CSSL is there's an American version which is called the National Severe Storms Lab and there's a European version called the European Severe Storms Lab. So we're joining the club.
AB: Are you guys learning from each other and working together?
DS: Definitely. We’re very plugged in with our partners in the US and in Europe. They helped us to develop how this would work in Canada.
AB: Is there anything that a tornado guy in Ontario can learn from a hail guy in Alberta?
DS: Once we started the CSSL, we started to kind of merge our capabilities in the field. We used to have separate teams that would investigate hail, another team for hail and tornadoes, and so on. Now we're training all of our interns and staff to be able to do any kind of surveys because we're doing our hail survey now in Ontario, and we're doing tornado surveys in Alberta. So all the teams need to know how to do the surveys for any kind of hazard. And so it's a multi-hazard approach now.
AB: There were 116 confirmed tornadoes in Canada in 2025. Every time I say that, it feels like such a big number. What does that number tell you?
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