Ontario tornado upgraded to EF-2, second twister confirmed
Meteorologist
Friday, June 15, 2018, 3:43 PM - Environment and Climate Change Canada has upgraded a tornado confirmed after Wednesday's strong storms, and confirmed a second twister as well.
In a statement Friday, the agency says the first tornado, part of a storm that affected Haldimand and Norfolk counties Wednesday afternoon, was actually an EF-2 tornado, with maximum winds of 180 km/h. It had initially estimated the twister at EF-1 strength, with peak winds of 160 km/h.
Environment Canada normally assesses tornado strength based on post-storm damage surveys, and a survey team found significant damage in the tornado's path near the towns of Jarvis and Waterford, which was approximately 32 km long with a maximum width of 500 metres.
"Numerous trees were uprooted or sheared apart, multiple buildings suffered shingle damage, branches were embedded into the roof of a house, a flag pole was snapped, a port collapsed, and several barns were destroyed," Environment Canada says.
A second tornado was confirmed from Wednesday near Norwich, based on video evidence. That twister did "minimal damage," and has been classed as an EF-0.
(Related: Get used to the heat, southern Ontario. Temperatures are set to soar.)
The storms which produced those tornadoes triggered severe thunderstorm warnings across much of the south of Ontario as they gradually moved east.
Images of severe weather in progress - and the damage it caused - quickly started appearing on social media and in our user galleries as storms bore down on the region.
Image credit: Korey Rideout - London, ON
Image credit: Donna Powell Woodstock ON
Image credit: Sowmya Thusiyanthan Brampton ON
