Tornado Soup

20Aug09_tornado_funnel.jpg
The beginnings of an apparent funnel cloud over Scarborough by mtlicq.

Auntie Em! It's a twister! A whole series of them! Toronto has always enjoyed geographic coordinates virtually immune to natural disasters, but the storms this summer aren't making us feel so safe anymore. Like something from a Roland Emmerich disaster flick, southwestern Ontario is actually being besieged by some pretty serious Tornados. According to rapidly updating media reports (with video!), funnels have been seen in Collingwood, Vaughan, Markdale, and following what police are calling a "major incident," at least one person is dead in Durham, just south of Owen Sound.

Environment Canada has issued tornado warnings for the City of Toronto, Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga, and Brampton, among other districts. As for downtown Toronto, the power is out in loads of places, there's flooding in the downtown core, and the sky is a bizarre, but beautiful yellow colour. Stay inside, folks.

Email This Entry


Comments (5) [rss]

Perhaps this is playing on semantics, but the suggestion 'coordinates that have been virtually immune' is a bit misleading. The risk has always been there; it's just that it is infrequent (but still probable).

Yep, that's why I said "virtually." I've had some memorable tornado and earthquake experiences in Ontario, albeit minor ones!

My cousin in Orangeville has seen quite a few tornadoes over the years, although most were quite small and very few ever touched down. This town also used to get 3 feet of snow per week during the winter so it's no surprise that they get some interesting weather in the summer.

Exactly ..and sometimes they may form, but without observation by people (the less densely populated areas) and do recall that many times tornadoes are very localized. It's interesting to note that while there has been so much research and understanding in their formation (just in capability of observation and earlier detection), there is still many answers to be discovered. The entire genesis of a tornado is still unknown; conditions for formation are known, but actual formation is still unknown. It's incredible.

Post a comment (Comment Policy)

TIP US OFF

Tip us off with news, leads, links; anything at all.
Subscribe to get events, weather, contests, and stories in your email inbox—daily.

EMAIL (required)

About Torontoist

Torontoist is about Toronto and everything that happens in it. It's edited by David Topping and Marc Lostracco, and you should totally advertise on us.

More about Torontoist.

Recent Comments

The Tall Poppy Interview

Follow Torontoist...