Possible tornado spotted amid series of Ontario storms

Tuesday, June 23, 2015, 6:42 AM - A series of severe thunderstorms crossed Southern Ontario Monday evening and early Tuesday, causing wind damage, localized flooding, sporadic power outages and what looked like a potential tornado near Goderich.

Watch above or visit here to see The Weather Network's live coverage of the storm aftermath.

Environment Canada issued thunderstorm warnings for much of the region from Windsor in the west to well east of the Greater Toronto Area Monday night and early Tuesday. Tornado warnings were issued for areas near Lake Huron, and remained in effect for some areas for more than an hour.

By 5 a.m. Tuesday, the warnings had all been dropped.

Storm chaser Dave Patrick snapped a picture of what appeared to be a tornado near Goderich, Ont., Monday night. However, Environment Canada has not received reports of damage indicative that a tornado occurred. 

"We are tracking down one report of tree damage in the community of Central Huron, but it doesn't appear the damage is significant," Warning preparedness meteorologist Geoff Coulson told The Weather Network. "So what we're dealing with at this point is a series of sporadic reports of some trees down, some power lines down and a few barns that have been damaged in different locations across southwestern Ontario, but no real organized track of damage."

Even without potential tornadoes, the storm brought very strong winds to come communities, with a peak gust of 96 km/h recorded at the Chatham Kent airport. Rainfall totals of more than 40 mm were widespread in the southwest and Greater Toronto Area, with 55 mm recorded at the G. Ross Lord Dam on the Don River. Around 40,000 lightning strikes

But although the worst of the storms have passed, their aftermath made for a difficult situation for people starting their day.

Hydro One reported around 10,000 customers without power throughout the storm zone by 6:30 a.m., dropping steadily through the morning. Toronto Hydro also reported a few thousand outages on their Twitter feed over the course of the evening.

There were also reports of localized flooding from the heavy rains and some damage from the strong winds. 

Several roads had rainwater pooling on them, leading to some temporary road closures across the region, including Bayview Avenue in Toronto. The Ontario Provincial Police also reported on Twitter than major pooling was occurring on Highway 400 in the Barrie, Innisfil and West Gwillimbury areas.

Social media images also showed major flooding in some parts of the Greater Toronto Area, with one basement in North York flooded with several feet of water.

In Richmond Hill, GO Transit says flooding forced the closure of part of the track, with some trains being cancelled. Service resumed later in the morning.

See below for a Storify of how the storms played out on Twitter