Weather watches and warnings seem to be a common occurrence recently in the Foothills.

Environment Canada confirmed a tornado did touchdown near Priddis following a tornado watch that had been issued on Wednesday and recorded a peak wind-gust of 154 km/h in Hussar, AB.

Dan Kulak, meteorologist with Environment Canada, says we're experiencing a late start to our wild weather season.

"Normally we would get some weather like this showing up in late June, but it's waited until the later part of July here," he says. "Essentially, we have a jet stream moving across the Rocky Mountains and cooler air from the north moving southwards at the same time and when various things get together in the right combination we get severe weather."

Kulak adds there is a difference between when a warning is issued versus a watch.

"A tornado watch or a thunderstorm watch are the 'heads-up' bulletin to let you know that the potential is there for those events to occur that day. A tornado warning or severe thunderstorm warning is the indication that the event is on going and imminent and could be moving into your area very shortly or is actually already underway."

Kulak says it's important to keep your eyes on the sky and take the appropriate measures when severe weather strikes.

Questions, comments, or story ideas? Email us at news@okotoksonline.com