Canada's third deadliest tornado hit Windsor, Ont. in 1946

This Day In Weather History is a daily podcast by Chris Mei from The Weather Network, featuring stories about people, communities and events and how weather impacted them.

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On Monday, June 17, 1946, an F4 hit Windsor, Ont. It's Canada's third deadliest tornado.

The tornado originated near River Rouge, Mich. Then, it crossed the Detroit River and made landfall in Windsor. The tornado started in the Brighton Beach neighbourhood, at modern-day Walker Road and Grand Marais Road.

Courtesy Windsor Public Library

It landed at an F4 strength and headed to southern Windsor. It made its way to the Sandwich West Township (now the Municipality of LaSalle). It headed to the northwest part of the Town of Tecumseh and dissipated over Lake St. Clair.

The twister travelled for 60 km and was approximately 30 metres wide. It cut through farmland and a small subdivision. It came very close to hitting Windsor Airport.

Some people speculated that the tornado caused F5-level damage as it lifted homes right off their foundations.

Courtesy Windsor Star

The tornado cut the power for The Windsor Star's main printing office so the Detroit News helped. Detroit News not only helped the Star until their offices were repairs, but they gave them priority so they could report on the tornado.

Courtesy Windsor Star

In Windsor, around 400 homes were either damaged or destroyed. The tornado killed 17 people and caused $9.663 million worth of damage ($141 million in 2020 dollars).

To learn more about the 1946 Windsor–Tecumseh tornado, listen to today's episode of "This Day In Weather History."

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Thumbnail: Courtesy Windsor Public Library