- 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.
BIG SITE NEWS !
This site will soon be switching over to a
forum-based layout. This will provide a MUCH better structure to
everything. Over the years with all the additions of info,
pictures, etc.. it has become a bit of a navigational nightmare.
The BEST part about the new layout, is that YOU will be able to share
YOUR pictures and videos with everyone else who visits the site!
Over the past decade many people have been emailing me their photos and
information, which I have to in turn fire up the web editor, add
everything, create the links, etc, etc. This will now be able to
be done by the actual persons themselves. Please bare with me
during the transition!
Environment Canada has confirmed
multiple tornados from the event that took place Aug.20 See the
tornado table listing at the bottom of this page for info.
One dead after tornado touchdown in Durham
(town) at Durham Conservation Area
Multiple tornados reported in Rutherford / Hwy.400
area. EMS on scene.
Roofs ripped off buildings, Hwy.7 & Martingrove area
6:25PM - Tornado reported on the ground near Vaughan
Mills shopping center
Video of damage in Vaughan, ON :
AUG.13 - STORM DAMAGE FROM LAKESIDE, ON
Description from Bexel
99: "Lakeside is 30 minutes northeast of
London, Ontario, 15 minutes south east of St. Mary's and 18 minutes
southwest of Stratford. The eye of the storm went over a comunity in
Lakeside called Treetops. Here are a few picutures. Power was out all
day Sunday and most of Monday. There was over 30 power lines down. Over
20 homes were affected."
More Lakeside, ON damage, courtesy: Mark S. :
2009 THUNDERSTORMS LISTING (St. Catharines, ON)
RED = Severe Thunderstorm Warning
YELLOW = Severe
Thunderstorm Watch
DATE
TIME
CLOUD
TOPS
DESCRIPTION
Mar.7
19:31
35,000
Moderate rain, weak thunder
Apr.25
18:15
35,000
Strong winds before storm. *Large*
squall line passed through encompassing most of southern and
central Ontario. OPP-reported tornado in Algonquin Park,
hydro poles down in Toronto, 140km/hr wind gust reported.
Severe tstorm warning issued by E.C. at 18:03. Two
tornados confirmed during this outbreak (see tornado listing
below)
May.8
23:00
?
May.9
10:30
0
[non-server - no storm] Severe thunderstorm
warning issued. No storm.
Weak thunder, moderate rain, brief moderate
to strong wind.
May.31
00:10
20,000
Weak thunder
Jun.8
23:45
30,000
Weak thunder, no wind/rain.
Jun.9
01:00
35,000
Moderate thunder/lightning. Light wind
and rain.
Jun.25
13:00
40,000
Strong winds with lower rotation as storm
approached, strong thunder/lightning, strong winds, small hail,
heavy downpours. Tornado touchdown in Simcoe area.
EC statement: "ONE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM SPAWNED A TORNADO NEAR
AVON..WEST OF TILLSONBURG..WHICH HAS BEEN CONFIRMED SO FAR BY A
DAMAGE SURVEY TEAM AS FUJITA SCALE 2 (181 TO 252 KM/H WIND
SPEED) ON THE FUJITA DAMAGE SCALE. THERE WAS LARGE HAIL REPORTED
AT A FEW LOCALES AS WELL."
Video 1,
Video 2
19:30
?
Weak storm. Light thunder, no wind, no
rain.
Jun.26
09:40
30,000
Weak isolated cell
Jun.28
19:45
35,000
[non-severe] No winds, light rain, light
rumbling of thunder.
20:30
35,000
Heavy downpours, frequent thunder/lightning.
Light wind.
Jun.29
13:00
25,000
Weak thunderstorms all afternoon (light rain,
no wind, minimal distant rumbling thunder)
Dark cloud bases looked threatening, but was
actually a small and week cell. No wind/rain, light
rumbling thunder, no visible lightning.
Jul.6
13:45
30,000
Nice isolated cell popped up with clear skies
around it. Strong very close "canon" thunder, brief
torrential downpour, strong wind.
Jul.11
09:10
35,000
[non-severe] Heavy rain, light wind,
strong thunder/lightning.
18:15
40,000
[non-server - no storm] Intense storm off
north shore of St. Catharines, showing purples on doppler, very
picturesque Cb build-up. Weak thunder as the storm was
miles away.
Jul.21
14:50
25,000
Light rain, no wind, weak thunder, no visible
lightning
Jul.22
21:30
25,000
Moderate lightning, little thunder, moderate
wind, very heavy rainfall.
Jul.23
13:30
35,000
Lots of thunder, no wind, no rain (storm was
off to the SE a bit but thunder of it could be heard
continuously)
[non-severe] Moderate to heavy rain, no wind,
moderate thunder/lightning.
Aug.09
11:45
50,000
Moderate thunder, moderate to heavy rain.
Lots of localized rotation in cloud bases.
21:00
50,000
Strongest t-storm in years. Continuous
lightning/thunder, horizontal rain, high wind gusts, torrential
downpours.
Aug.10
16:20
35,000
Localized cell with sunny skies all around
except overhead. Light rain, light thunder (except one
huge crack/boom)
Aug.11
18:20
40,000
One rumble of thunder. No wind, no
rain.
Aug.20
19:35
45,000
TORNADO WARNING. Moderate
thunder/lightning, very low clouds with rotation showing on
radar. This storm system produced numerous tornados across
southern Ontario, killing one in Durham (town) and a significant
F2 in Vaughan which flipped cars and trucks, and caused damage
to over 600 homes, many of which had to be demolished.
Torrential downpours, dark and very low clouds, light
thunder/lightning.
2009 ONTARIO TORNADO LISTING
DATE
TIME
LOCATION
-DESCRIPTION
Apr.25
PM
(F0)
LEAMINGTON -
NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF HANNA ST EAST AND LANGLOIS AVENUE IN
WINDSOR. IT DID MINOR ROOF DAMAGE TO A UNION HALL AND DEBRIS
FROM THE ROOF ALSO DID SOME DAMAGE TO HOMES TO THE SOUTHEAST OF
THE UNION HALL. THE TORNADO WAS RATED AS A FUJITA SCALE ZERO
EVENT WITH MAXIMUM WINDS AROUND 90 KILOMETRES PER HOUR.
Apr.25
18:30
(F0) OTTAWA - THERE WAS ONE SWATH OF
DAMAGE IN THE WEST END OF OTTAWA, FROM BRITTANIA PARK TOWARDS
CARLINGTON HEIGHTS (TOTAL LENGTH APPROX 5 KM) WHICH EXPERIENCED
INTERMITTENT SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE. THE DAMAGE PATH RANGED FROM 50
METRES WIDE OVER THE WESTERN PART OF THE PATH TO NEAR 150 METRES
WIDE OVER THE EASTERN PART. FURTHERMORE, ONE EYEWITNESS NEAR THE
BRITTANIA YACHT CLUB REPORTS SEEING THREE WATERSPOUTS OVER THE
RIVER, ONE OF WHICH HEADED TOWARDS BRITTANIA BEACH. OTHER
WITNESSES ON MORISSET AVE. REPORTED SEEING FUNNEL CLOUDS AND
SWIRLING DEBRIS. THE COMBINATION OF THE DAMAGE TRACK AND
EYEWITNESS REPORTS IS SUFFICIENT FOR ENVIRONMENT CANADA TO
CONFIRM THE SECOND TORNADO OF THE SEASON FOR ONTARIO. (WHILE
THREE INDIVIDUAL WATERSPOUTS WERE SEEN OVER THE WATER, THIS WILL
BE TREATED AS ONE TORNADO EVENT.) THE TORNADO WAS RATED AS AN
UPPER END FUJITA SCALE ZERO (F-0) EVENT WITH MAXIMUM WINDS
AROUND 115 KM/H.
Apr.25
afternoon
(F0) GUELPH - THE
TORNADO HAD A PATH OF INTERMITTENT DAMAGE ABOUT 1.5 KM LONG AND
ABOUT 50 METRES WIDE.
Jun.25
13:50
(F2) south of AVON -
(west of Tilsonburg) Roof removed from bungalow, damage path 4km
long. Info: 'The tornado warning issued Thursday for
southwestern Ontario became more than a warning for a surprised
Tillsonburg man. Richard Smith, 29, spotted the tornado in
the early afternoon while driving along rural Avon Drive in the
vicinity of Belmont. Smith saw the dark funnel cloud only
moments after the tornado ripped through a nearby house.
"It took out the house pretty much completely," Smith said.
"There were full-grown trees being ripped right out of the
ground." Describing the tornado as having almost a
"lightning-bolt" shape, Smith recounted "white clouds" near the
funnel's base that were "throwing up all kinds of stuff."
Driving by the flattened home, Smith saw an uninjured elderly
woman standing outside the wreck. There was also a report of a
barn being destroyed just north of the home -- about 15
kilometres west of Tillsonburg along Prouse Road -- but, again,
no one was injured. This tornado wasn't the only twister
to touch down in the region. Another funnel cloud ripped the
roof from an Elgin County home while a startled woman was
washing her hair in the bathroom.'
16:40
(F1) near Leamington
- barn destroyed
Jul.3
(F0) VERONA
IN SOUTH FRONTENAC WHICH IS ABOUT 30 KM NORTH OF
KINGSTON. THE TORNADO ONLY EXISTED BRIEFLY DOING MINOR
DAMAGE TO ITEMS AROUND A HOME IN THIS AREA
Jul.9
(F1) - NORTH OF EAR FALLS
AND CAUSED A 25 KM LONG SWATH OF TREE DAMAGE, FROM EAST TO WEST
ACROSS WENESAGA LAKE ABOUT 5-10 KM NORTH OF EAR FALLS. IT IS
BEING RATED AS A FUITA SCALE ONE (F1) EVENT WITH PEAK WINDS
BETWEEN 120 AND 170 KM/H.
21:30
(F2) LAC SEUL - south of Ear Falls
- killed 2 visitors from Oklahoma (of all places!) 3
fatalities, 5 injuries, 2 cabins destroyed, significant tree
damage. [edit - added info]: THE LAC SEUL TORNADO (SOUTH
OF EAR FALLS) WHICH WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THREE FATALITIES AT A
FISHING RESORT ACTUALLY OCCURRED SECOND, ABOUT ONE HOUR LATER.
IT IS STILL RATED A FUJITA SCALE TWO EVENT, WITH PEAK WINDS
BETWEEN 180 AND 240 KM/H.
VIDEO ON THIS PAGE
Aug.20
(F2) 5km SW of DURHAM to MARKDALE
- Significant house and trailer damage, tree damage, etc.
(F2) S of THORNBURY to SE of THORNBURY
-
(F2) WOODBRIDGE/VAUGHAN
- several KM long, 50+ meters wide. Houses
destroyed beyond repair, cars and trucks flipped upside down,
hundreds of houses damaged.
(F1) NEWMARKET -
hockey arena almost destroyed
(F0) GRAVENHURST -
Path about 10km long and up to 1km wide
(F?) ARNSTEIN TO
RESTOULE TO NORTH BAY
- waterspout tornado
(F1) MILTON - damage to roofs
REDSTONE LAKE -
roofs off, trees down in all directions and witnesses all
reporting tornado
PICTURE OF THE MOMENT (email
me yours!) Previous photos here! Thanks to Pete P. who shot this in Kingston, ON (Aug.11, 2009) :
OntarioStorms.com
OntarioStorms.com is located in
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