Environment Canada has confirmed a tornado touched down in Thornbury, Ont., during Friday’s storm through Western University’s Northern Tornadoes Project. The tornado followed a path through the town before it entered into Georgian Bay. According to a weather summary issued by Environment Canada, the tornado damaged a tree, a power pole and a street lamp.…
Stunning tornadoes struck Canada on Sunday, one unexpected, another far north
After a punishing 14-day streak with at least eight tornado reports in the Lower 48, the United States finally caught a semi-respite from twisters this past weekend. Instead, our neighbor to the north was the victim of attention-grabbing storms. Two noteworthy tornadoes touched down in Canada on Sunday. The first, in Ottawa, was unexpected and…
‘DEBRIS FLYING’: Tornadoes damage homes, trees in Ottawa
Resident of an Orléans neighbourhood described seeing a funnel cloud and hearing what sounded like a train Sunday before a tornado ripped trees out of the ground and damaged homes and cars. Several residents of the Chatelaine Village neighbourhood north of Place d’Orléans said they only received an emergency alert on their phone after the…
Man killed by falling tree during Ontario storm that spawned six tornadoes
A 46-year-old man was killed during the Sept. 21 storm that produced six tornadoes in eastern Ontario. Darren Smith died after a maple tree fell on him during the storm near his home. His 17-year-old daughter, who was beside him when the tree fell, survived. Smith lived in Rideau Lakes, Ont., approximately 60 kilometres north…
‘My family is going to die here’: Gatineau father recalls tornado terror
As a tornado shredded his Gatineau, Que., apartment Friday afternoon, James Widder gripped his four-year-old daughter by her fingertips, terrified the small child would be torn from his grasp. “When ripped our roof, my daughter went flying off. I was holding her hand in the air and I almost let go. She was…
Manitoba residents frustrated they didn’t receive emergency alerts on cellphones before deadly tornado
Pamela Sul, chief administrative officer for the rural municipality near Lake Manitoba, says she saw a tornado warning on television and was able to flee her home. But she didn’t have cell coverage to receive a text-message alert on her phone or even call her neighbors to warn them about the incoming storm. She says…
North America Just Had Its First EF4 Tornado of 2018, and It Wasn’t in the U.S.
North America’s first EF4 tornado of 2018 has been confirmed, but it wasn’t in the United States. Environment Canada said an EF4 tornado touched down last Friday in Manitoba, Canada. The U.S. averages the most tornadoes in a given year, with 1,253 twisters occurring in the country annually, according to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental…
Environment Canada investigating report of tornados in southwest
It was a pretty wild start to the week in southwestern Saskatchewan yesterday afternoon as a severe weather system moved through the area. A tornado watch was placed on the region by Environment Canada around 3:30 p.m. and stuck around for about three hours before being rescinded. Alysa Pederson, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said…
Tornado damages 6 homes in Mont-Laurier, Que.
Environment Canada confirms a tornado with violent winds damaged six homes in Mont-Laurier, Que. The tornado came with a storm off the Great Lakes and crossed into Quebec with violent winds. Environment Canada said the EF-0 tornado touched down in the neighbourhood of Chemin du Lac Nadeau. The surge also knocked out power in the…
Thirty years after Black Friday, memories of the deadly tornado are still fresh
The tornado that hit Edmonton on July 31, 1987, killed 27 people, injured hundreds and caused more than $500 million in damage in today’s dollars. But 30 years later, does it still mean anything to Edmontonians? Since the day that came to be known as Black Friday, the number of people who saw the destruction…