Substitute while the actions of the article are loading
A series of strong thunderstorms tore down Canada’s most populous corridor on Saturday, killing at least five people and cutting off nearly a million people.
The storms carved a path of destruction from southern Ontario to southeastern Quebec, passing near or directly through three of Canada’s four largest cities: Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. Toronto International Airport, the largest in the country, measures a gust of wind of about 75 miles per hour. Ottawa International Airport, another major hub, also reported gusts of 75 miles per hour.
Environment Canada, the national weather and climate agency, reported five deaths and several injuries from strong winds. He also reported “significant damage to trees, power lines and buildings”, as well as overturned cars and widespread interruptions.
At least three of the five deaths in Ontario and Ottawa were caused by falling trees, according to law enforcement.
One of those deaths occurred when a tree fell on a trailer in the protected area of Lake Pinehurst, Ontario police said. Another happened in Brampton, west of Toronto, when a large tree hit a woman walking during the storm, Peel Regional Police said on Twitter. And in Ottawa, police confirmed on Sunday that a tree had fallen on a 59-year-old man on a golf course the day before, killing him.
In another incident, a woman died when her boat capsized on the Ottawa River, the Toronto Star reported.
Details of the fifth victim remained unclear on Sunday. The Star reported that a 44-year-old man was killed in Greater Madawasca, west of Ottawa, also after being hit by a falling tree. The post office could not verify the information.
“My thoughts are with their families and friends, and I offer my condolences on behalf of all Ontarioans,” Ottawa Prime Minister Doug Ford tweeted Saturday night.
Several of the deaths highlight a common theme in strong wind events: Those involved in outdoor activities are particularly vulnerable to strong gusts of wind. The website of the US Storm Forecast Center says that “those involved in outdoor activities are at particular risk”, especially “campers or tourists in wooded areas” who are vulnerable to being injured or killed by falling trees’.
Two were killed and 44 were injured in an unusual tornado in northern Michigan
Widespread damage to trees and energy infrastructure has also dealt a severe blow to electricity distribution in the city’s corridor. As of Saturday night, power cutout aggregator PowerOutage.com listed about 925,000 outages in Quebec and Ontario, a large-scale event for a country of just over 38 million citizens. On Sunday morning, PowerOutage.com still reported nearly 700,000 customers without electricity.
Emergency crews responded to more than 500 calls on Saturday about broken power lines, fires, fallen trees and damaged buildings, CTV Ottawa reported.
The stormy complex almost certainly qualifies as a ravine or thunder complex, which produces extremely powerful gusts of wind in a wide strip. The effects of strong winds on a tree are often comparable to those of hurricanes. Derechos are quite common in the lower 48 states, but are rarer north of the border and rarely affect such densely populated corridors.
Derechos often hit the northern periphery of heat domes, where conditions are ripe for powerful thunderstorms. Indeed, much of the unusual heat at the start of the season swelled over eastern North America on Saturday, with many cities in the eastern United States setting records.
The combination of this heat with moisture drawn north of the Gulf of Mexico has fueled extreme weather instability or fuel for thunderstorms in eastern Canada. Storms erupted as this hot, humid air was met by a strong cold front marching east. It was the same cold front that caused temperatures in Denver to drop by more than 50 degrees in 24 hours and helped trigger the deadly tornado in Gaylord, Michigan.
Late May snow protects Colorado 24 hours after the 90-degree heat
Historically, far southeastern Canada has seen approximately one gorge event every four years, according to the Storm Forecasting Center. But Saturday’s event was unusually far to the northeast and occurred at an unusual time of year; many Canadian derechos are hit in July or August.
The unusual characteristics of the Saturday tree may be representative of a climate change trend in the location of such harmful thunderstorms. According to the Storm Forecast Center’s website, “the corridors with the highest frequency of dere are likely to shift to the pole over time” as high-pressure warm domes expand northward as global warming.
Paulina Villegas contributed to this report
Add Comment