Ontario Severe Storms and TornadosOntarioStorms.com OntarioStorms.com is located in St. Catharines [Niagara], Ontario.  Stats
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STORMS BY YEAR:
2006  Photo/Info pages
2005  Photo/Info pages
2004  Photo/Info pages
2003  Photo/Info pages
2002  Stats/Photos/VidClips
2001  Stats/Photos/VidClips
         VHS Video
2000  Storm Archive
         Stats & Summary
         VHS Video
1999  Storm Archive
         Stats & Summary
         Chase Logs
         VHS Video
1998  Storm Archive
         Stats & Summary
         Chase Logs
1987  Edmonton F4
1985  Barrie - Dual F4's
1898  Story with Photos

LATEST UPDATE:  APR.11, 2008 - First thunderstorm of the year!
Nothing huge, but some bright flashes of lightning and weak rain, but it's a start!

FEB.17, 2008
Not much to report on the front lines...  balmy above-freezing weather in mid-February isn't something to complain about though!  It's been raining all day, but at least it's better than SNOW.

DEC.2 - FIRST SIGNIFICANT SNOW FALL
Well, what can one say.  It was a dry, uneventful summer.  Not much in the way of severe storms for the Niagara area - not much to say as far as any storms are considered.  The number of thunderstorms as a total was probably the lowest this season in the past decade.  Overnight (Dec1-2) we had our first snow that stayed on the ground, making for a nice white morning, although with increasing temperatures over the next few days, it won't be there for long.  Here's to hoping next season makes up for this one!  Sorry for the lack of storm photos these past couple years.  It's been very slow!

SEP.19 - Elie, Manitoba  (Jun.22) F5 Tornado Video
A great video of Canada's first confirmed F5 tornado is here on YouTube - you can clearly see it lift an intact house high into the air before it disintegrates.  As far as local storm news goes... it's been just as slow since the last update.

AUG.29 - Slow, slow year
Well if things could be any hotter and drier we'd be re-classified as a desert.  The grass is brown and yellow thoughout most of the city, the plants are wilted, and storms are almost non-existant.

AUG.24 - Storm front with shelf cloud going through Tilbury
(Photo credit:  Chris Kelly)

  AUG.03 - Photogenic lightning early this morning
St. Catharines, ON  (4:45am shooting from my kitchen!)

Lightning picture Lightning picture

2008 STORM DATA (listings below are for St. Catharines - personally witnessed storms only)TA (listings below are for St. Catharines - personally witnessed storms only)     = Warning       = Watch
Date Time Cloud Tops Descrition
Apr.11 23:00 30kft light rain, weak thunder/lightning
2007 Ontario Tornado Listing
         
 
PICTURE OF THE MOMENT (email me yours!)
Storm front with shelf cloud going through Tilbury, Aug.24 / 2007 :
(Photo credit:  Chris Kelly)
More Photos:
    Adam Bennett
    Des Cairns
    Randy Colburn
    Tim Dyson
    Mike Gavrailoff
    Dave Girotto
    Ron Gravelle
    Art Houghton
    Ashlie Luska
    Stephen Mayne
    Patrick McCarthy
    Brian Morganti
    Colin McIntyre
    Jennifer Metcalfe
    Marc Nagy
    Rob Paola
    Mark Rozitis
    Lisa Welsh
    Colin Williamson
    Riley Woytas

Edmonton, Alberta, 1987: F4
Click picture for pictures/info.

And more photos of the above AVE>
And more photos of the above here

North Bay, Ontario :

High River, Alberta, June 27/'96:

Clear Creek, Ontario, Aug.4/'99: 
(Video shot  by Gage Townsend)

- Canada is 2nd only to the United States in the number of tornados that touch down each year.  On average, 100 tornados are reported by radar or sighted by people each year, yet, due to the lack of Doppler radar in Canada (which can predict tornado formations within a storm), and due to the fact that much of Canada is sparsely populated, many tornados go undetected.  The true number of tornados that touch down on Canadian soil each year could be much more than the number reported. What is "severe" weather?  Severe weather is defined as any element of the weather that threaten peoples' property or safety.

- How does Southern Ontario compare with the states for tornado frequency?  It was stated in a university study that Southern Ontario has about half of the number of tornados as the most afflicted region of the U.S. in Oklahoma and Kansas. The Red River valley of southern Manitoba has reported frequencies about one-third of the highest values in the U.S.   "Southern Canada definitely has a tornado hazard, all the way from New Brunswick to the B.C. interior. Only in extreme southwestern Ontario, though, is an average of one F2 to F4 tornado per 10,000 square miles per year experienced."

- Environment Canada defines a severe thunderstorm as the following:  Wind gusts of 90 km/h or greater, hail of 2 centimeters diameter or greater, rainfall rate greater than 50 millimetres in 1 hour or less, or 75 millimetres in 3 hours or less.