Saskatchewan records Canada's strongest tornado since 2023
Tuesday's tornado near Oxbow, Sask., was given a preliminary damage rating of EF-3 after it severely impacted a home on a farm property, making it Canada's strongest twister since 2023
A tornado that occurred near Oxbow, Sask., on Tuesday amid a bout of severe weather on the eastern Prairies is Canada's strongest since a twister near Didsbury, Alta., in July 2023.
Tuesday's tornado was officially given a preliminary EF-3 damage rating by the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP), which conducted an on-site investigation of damage incurred at a farmstead property near the Saskatchewan community.
Canada has not seen a tornado of that magnitude (or higher) since an EF-4 twister hit near Didsbury, Alta., on Canada Day in 2023.
According to NTP, the EF-3 rating for the Saskatchewan tornado was based primarily on the wreckage the twister caused to the home on the farmstead property.
The twister's maximum wind speed was estimated at 245 km/h, with further details to come, NTP says. However, the organization doesn't expect the rating to change unless a post-event analysis is conducted at a later time, and it shows higher wind speeds.
It said the last F3 (Fujita scale was used to rank damage prior to April 2013 in Canada) tornado in Saskatchewan occurred in Semans in July 2010.
EF-3 tornadoes rare in Canada
It is interesting to note that since the formation of NTP in 2017, there have only been three EF-3 tornadoes in Canada.
Scarth, Man.: EF-3 tornado on Aug. 8, 2020 (260 km/h max. wind speed)
Dunrobin, Ont.: EF-3 tornado on Sept. 21, 2018 (265 km/h max. wind speed)
Sainte-Anne-du-Lac, Que.: EF-3 tornado on June 18, 2017
In 2025, there were plenty of twisters in Canada, but none were of the EF-3 rating.
EF-3: 0
EF-2: 21
EF-1: 39
EF-0: 14
Thumbnail courtesy of Allison Martel.
With files from Tyler Hamilton, a meteorologist at The Weather Network.