Latest news with #NorthernTornadoesProject
Winnipeg Free Press
19 hours ago
- Climate
- Winnipeg Free Press
Three tornadoes confirmed
Three tornadoes touched down in Manitoba this week, two of them in the Winnipeg area. The potentially dangerous weather events were confirmed by the Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University in London, Ont. Researchers confirmed that funnel clouds spotted late Wednesday afternoon touched down northeast of the city. Both were classified as 'weak.' Supplied / Northern Tornadoes Project A tornado was reported near Birds Hill Provincial Park. The first, near Birds Hill Provincial Park just after 5 p.m., had an estimated wind speed of 115 km/h. No injuries were reported and only minor tree damage was discovered. The second was confirmed near Dugald at 5:30 p.m. No injuries were reported, but the twister left crop and minor tree damage. Weekday Mornings A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day. There were no reports of injuries or damage after a weak tornado was confirmed near Melita Tuesday evening. fpcity@ Supplied / Northern Tornadoes Project The twister near Dugald resulted in crop and minor tree damage.
CTV News
19 hours ago
- Climate
- CTV News
3 tornadoes touch down in Manitoba this week
Environment and Climate Change Canada are investigating a possible tornado in southwest Manitoba. A Western University research team has confirmed three tornadoes touched down in Manitoba this week, including two northeast of Winnipeg. A post from the Northern Tornadoes Project, run by the university, showed three tornadoes touched down near Melita on Aug. 5 and near Birds Hill Provincial Park and Dugald on Aug. 6. All three tornadoes were given a rating of EF-0 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, the lowest rating. The tornado near Melita, which was caught on video, started at 8:45 p.m. and no damage was reported. Expand Autoplay 1 of 9 Weather system A weather system near Hazelridge on Aug. 6, 2025. (Luka Kuzenko) Weather system A weather system in West St. Paul on Aug. 6, 2025. (Submitted) Weather system A weather system in the RM of St. Andrews on Aug. 6, 2025. (Submitted) Weather system A weather system in the RM of St. Andrews on Aug. 6, 2025. (Submitted) Weather system A fallen tree in Cooks Creek following a weather system on Aug. 6, 2025. (Danica Racicot) Weather system A weather system in Dugald on Aug. 6, 2025. (Justine Subchak) Weather system A weather system in West St. Paul on Aug. 6, 2025. (Submitted) Weather system A weather system north of St. Andrews on Aug. 6, 2025. (Submitted) Weather system A weather system in Amber Trails, Winnipeg, on Aug. 6, 2025. (Submitted) The Birds Hill Provincial Park tornado started at 5:06 p.m., and was estimated to hit a wind speed of 115 km/h. There was a narrow path of minor tree damage found over an area 4.1 kilometres long and up to 270 metres wide. The tornado near Dugald started at 5:30 p.m. and also had an estimated maximum wind speed of 115 km/h. A narrow path of crop and tree damage was found over an area 4.24 km long and up to 70 metres wide. tornado path dugald A damage path in crops from a tornado near Dugauld is seen on Aug. 7, 2025. (Northern Tornadoes Project) Environment and Climate Change Canada has not yet released a weather summary from the storms as of Friday but is investigating possible tornado activity.
CBC
21 hours ago
- Climate
- CBC
2 tornadoes touched down near Winnipeg this week, investigators confirm
A team of tornado researchers have confirmed two touched down north and east of Winnipeg on Wednesday evening — one near Birds Hill Provincial Park and another in the Dugald area. That brings the total to three in Manitoba this week, according to David Sills, director of the Northern Tornadoes Project. "Thankfully, these were not stronger tornadoes," Sills told CBC News on Friday. "This could have been worse." In collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada, in recent years the Northern Tornadoes Project does the on the ground confirmatory work of determining whether a funnel cloud did in fact touch down and achieve tornado status. The project, headquartered at Western University in London, Ont., had ground teams from the University of Manitoba head out Thursday to look for damage from reported funnel clouds in the Dugald and Birds Hill regions a day earlier. They found a four kilometre-long swirling track pattern through crops, as well as minor tree damage associated with the tornado near Dugald. Another track measuring about the same length, along with some tree damage, was discovered in the Birds Hill area Thursday, said Sills. Damage — a factor in determining the strength of a tornado — was minimal in each case, so both were described as weak tornadoes. Each received an EF 0 rating on the enhanced Fujita scale (EF scale), which is a way scientists measure the size and intensity of twisters. Sills said the super cell thunderstorms that produced both tornadoes are capable of producing EF 5 tornadoes. "But thankfully they weren't powerful enough and long lived enough to produce some of the catastrophic-type damage that we've seen with other super cell tornadoes," he said. It's the third confirmed tornado in the province this week. Another verified by the team was in southwestern Manitoba in Grande-Clairière, northeast of Melita and southwest of Deleau, on Tuesday. It, too, was rated an EF 0. No injuries were reported in any of the tornadoes this week. Despite three tornadoes in two days, Manitoba has had relatively few this year. On average, the province gets eight confirmed annually, said Sills, and this year only five have been verified. That's been the broader pattern playing out nationally as well: there have only been 38 tornadoes this year, compared to 129 last summer — the second-highest on record, said Sills. The exception this year is southern Saskatchewan, which makes up 17 — or half of all tornadoes thus far in 2025. Peak tornado season in Canada typically is in mid- to late-July. On average Canada gets about 65 tornadoes per year historically, said Sills, though that figure is highly variable year to year. He said since the inception of the Northern Tornadoes Project in 2017, his team has detected on average 105 tornadoes annually across Canada. Despite lower activity this summer thus far, that doesn't mean Manitobans can let their guard down, said Sills. "The threat still exists. We have a threat kind of just east of the southern Manitoba area today, and we're expecting that there could be a tornado or two in northwestern Ontario," said Sills. "But then the risk kind of goes back into southern Manitoba again for the next day. So, the storm season is not over and we certainly could see a number of of tornadoes happen in August across the Prairies."
CBC
29-07-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Saturday storms produced three tornadoes near Goderich, tornado researchers confirm
3 eyewitness videos show storm, suspected tornado in southwestern Ontario 1 day ago Duration 1:29 A strong supercell thunderstorm that crossed parts of southwestern Ontario on Saturday produced three separate tornadoes in the span of an hour, researchers with Western University's Northern Tornadoes Project confirmed Monday. All three tornadoes spawned between 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday near Goderich as the storm system came ashore from Lake Huron. The first tornado occurred on the lake as a waterspout, about 14 kilometres northwest of Bayfield, according to coordinates provided by Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP). "Then it weakened a bit, and once it got on shore, it started producing a tornado again at Porter's Hill ... then it intensified again and produced another tornado further inland near Harlock," said David Sills, NTP's director. The three tornadoes produced minor damage on land, and have been classified as EF-0 in strength, the weakest rating on the enhanced Fujita scale. No injuries have been reported, Sills said. NTP conducted a ground and drone survey of the area on Sunday to document damage and to chart the paths of the two land tornadoes. "The one bit of structural damage we know about from the tornado near Porter's Hill was a structure that had its roof peeled back," along Sharpes Creek Line, Sills said. Damage to a coverall building and to trees was also reported. That twister had wind speeds of at least 124 km/h, and travelled 6.24 kilometres with a maximum path width of 190 metres, he said. "The other tornado that hit Harlock was really impressive visually, but only produced weak damage — basically 90 km/h, a few tree branches broken," he said. It travelled nearly 4.7 kilometres with a maximum path width of 330 metres. CBC News spoke with several residents on Sunday who recalled there being a calm before the storm's quick arrival. "We sat down to have dinner, and all of a sudden my mom was like, 'You need to get to your safe place,'" said Deobrah Caira who lives near Blyth in the area where the third tornado touched down. "I said, 'It's all clear and sunny outside.' Sure enough, I looked outside, and I saw this cloud formation rotating, coming toward us." A short time later, the family took cover in the home's centre hallway as the tornado ripped by their property. "The doors were shaking on their hinges. The whole house was shaking," Caira said. The passing tornado dissipated through a field behind the family's property, but not before it damaged a 150-year-old tree and tossed Caira's roadside vegetable stand down the driveway. "There was a bit of confusion ... because there was a large marine tornado warning issued as the tornado over the lake was happening. I think quite a few people on shore got that warning," Sills said. "But as the tornado moved onshore, there didn't appear to be a tornado warning issued then. When it came on shore, I don't think there was any warning or watch in effect, at that point." The three tornadoes followed an EF-1 rated downburst that occurred in Mitchell on Thursday which damaged several barns, power pole, trees, and crops.
CTV News
28-07-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
‘Downburst' confirmed near Mitchell
Ground photo of the worst damage point with the roof removed from a drive shed - winds assessed at 150 km/hr. (Source: Northern Tornadoes Project) A storm that ripped through Mitchell on July 24 has been categorized as a downburst. According to the Northern Tornadoes Project out of Western University, damage to several barns, power poles, trees and crops was reported in after a storm passed through — no injuries were reported. Damage assessed an EF1 downburst, with an estimated maximum wind speed of 150 km/h. Intermittent damage was found over an area approximately 13.4 km long and up to 8.6 km wide.
