'The whole yard is gone': Tornado rips through farmer's property in southern Sask. storm

SASKATOON -

A tornado ripped through a Saskatchewan grain farmer’s yard on Monday, causing an estimated $1 million in damage.

Eugene Zakaluzny farms near Hodgeville in the southwestern part of the province and said the tornado came through suddenly.

“I never saw anything coming because the sun was shining here in the yard,” said Zakaluzny.

“In 30 seconds it was all over with. The whole yard was done."

Zakaluzny said the storm blew off garage doors and shattered several windows.

“Pretty well the whole yard is gone. Nothing to the house, mainly just garages and bins and big machinery.”

A GoFundMe has been set up to support the Zakalunzy family with not just the aftermath of the tornado, but also a fire in the winter that burnt down their shop.

“It's kind of devastating when you don't have anything and you lose everything,” said Zakaluzny.

Environment Canada said Monday's storm saw hail as large as golf balls. (Jenny Hagan)

Severe storms swept through much of southern Saskatchewan on Monday.

Environment Canada has confirmed it's investigating two tornadoes that touched down on Monday night.

“We did see at least one tornado develop in-and-around the Hodgeville area,” said meteorologist Terri Lang.

A low pressure system developed across southern Saskatchewan mixed with severe thunderstorms and showers.

There were several reports of hail across the province, “anywhere from pea size to golf ball size in the Moose Jaw area,” explained Lang.

She said this is unusual weather for the time of year.

“Late season tornados aren't unheard of, but they certainly are rare,” she said.

SaskPower confirmed there were no significant outages, which it says is lucky considering high winds and lightning usually cause outages.

Storm chaster Jenny Hagan said she was up until 2 a.m. capturing Monday night's storm. (Jenny Hagan)

Jenny Hagan is a storm chaser with Severe Weather Spotters.

She captured several photos of Monday’s storm before getting home just before 2 a.m.

“This is probably, in the 10 years I have been chasing, the longest stretch of hail I've ever encountered,” said Hagan.

“Last night, I probably drove about 146 kilometers of hail-covered road, which was crazy.”