A tornado touched down just north of Shaunavon at about 3:20 p.m. on Thursday.

The twister knocked down power lines and carried massive grain storage bins several hundred yards across Highway 37 and scattered debris in nearby fields.

Several different funnel clouds were spotted by community residents before the tornado touched down. Many locals ventured out onto town streets to get a better view of the clouds that could be seen from miles away.

Local schools were also in lock down mode as staff initiated emergency measures. Students were only allowed to leave the schools once the danger had passed and parents had arrived to take them home.

The storm also carried lightning and hail. Hail covered fields and roads, making driving treacherous along another stretch of Highway 37 south of Shaunavon.

Firefighters also responded to a bail fire south of town that was ignited by a lightning strike. A local fire official estimated that the stack held more than a 100 bales. Firefighters were on the scene to make sure the blaze did not spread to another nearby stack of bales or the adjoining farm yard.

Power was also temporarily knocked out in Shaunavon when the tornado took the legs out of power lines just north of Town.