PHOTOS: Powerful Ontario storms spawn tornadoes, uproot trees, knocks out power
Environment Canada has so far confirmed two tornadoes touched down in southwestern Ontario Wednesday night.
Not only did the remnants of what was Tropical Storm Cristobal bring the heat and humidity to southern Ontario, it also generated powerful thunderstorms Wednesday night that downed trees, power lines and produced at least two tornadoes.
Parts of southwestern Ontario, including London, were in a brief tornado warning in the evening. During this time, there were multiple reports of tornadoes in the London area. On Thursday morning, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) verified the touchdowns.
According to the agency, the first twister appeared in Newbury around 7:50 p.m., followed by a sighting a few minutes later, of what is believed to be the same tornado, in Glencoe.
“From the information we received and from the radar we conclude that were was two. Later on Thursday as we get more information we might just update the number of tornadoes,” ECCC meteorologist Yoseph Mengesha told Blackburn News.
Reports of a second tornado popped up from the Belmont area around 8:30 p.m. There were images submitted from this area showing snapped hydro poles, downed tree limbs, and damage to buildings. The tornadoes are currently under investigation by the Northern Tornadoes Project to determine the track length and intensity.
Close to 46,000 Hydro One customers are still without power. Many social media users reported large trees uprooted by wind gusts that exceeded 100 km/h, large hail and frequent lightning. See the impacts from the severe thunderstorms, below.
'THE ROOF WAS MISSING FROM THE BARN,' RESIDENT DESCRIBES TORNADO AFTERMATH
TORNADO IN BELMONT AREA:
THE WEATHER NETWORK'S MARTA CZURYLOWICZ HEADS OUT TO SURVEY STORM DAMAGE
Thumbnail courtesy of Chris.