Environment Canada confirmed that the EF2 tornado hit Uxbridge on Saturday when a powerful meteorological system made its way through Ontario, tearing apart homes and cutting off thousands of people.
In a tweet, Western University’s Northern Tornadoes project said the May 21 tornado in Uxbridge was the first wind event in Canada to cause damage to EF2 in 2022.
In an update released Tuesday night, Environment Canada said the group’s data officially confirmed that the EF2 tornado was built into the front end of the derecho, a widespread and long-lasting storm linked to a line of thunderstorms.
Environment Canada said the derecho developed near Sarnia late Saturday morning and was tracked northeast over southern Ontario, crossing Ottawa on Saturday afternoon.
“Destructive gusts of wind were reported over much of southern Ontario as strong thunderstorms raced,” said Environment Canada. “After a preliminary analysis of the extensive damage in Uxbridge, Ontario, the Western University’s Northern Tornadoes project team has officially confirmed that the EF2 tornado is embedded in the front edge of the derecho.
The agency said the tornado occurred around 13:15 on Saturday afternoon in Uxbridge and found that the maximum wind speed was 195 kilometers per hour.
Speaking to CP24, Environment Canada Warning Preparedness meteorologist Gerald Cheng said the agency found winds of just 46 kilometers per hour in Sarnia when storms were first tracked in Ontario from Michigan, but eventually realized the need for mobile warning when the storm intensifies.
“We still issued a severe thunderstorm warning, but what really made us believe that these severe thunderstorm warnings were part of Alert Ready was when we saw the gusts of wind at Kitchener Waterloo Airport; 132 kilometers per hour. At this wind speed, up to 20 percent of shingles can disappear.
Cheng said the wind speed was rising very fast, leaving a small window to inform people.
“When we look at the wind speed at 12:52 on the same day on Saturday, Pearson reported gusts of 72 kilometers per hour – the day is windy. Up to 13 hours, 120 kilometers per hour. So it escalates very quickly.
“We issued a warning for the city of Toronto at 12:45. But you see, the execution time wasn’t long enough for people to hide. “
The violent weather system killed 10 people, caused extensive damage to trees and buildings, and cut off power to more than 1 million customers at Ontario’s hydropower plants.
The May 21 tornado in Uxbridge, the UN, was the first wind event in Canada to damage EF2 in the 2022 season.
So far there have been 2 other tornadoes – in Casselman, ON and Caron, SK. Both are currently rated EF0-Default.
See the NTP dashboard on #ONStorm
– Northern Tornadoes Project (@westernuNTP) May 24, 2022
In a news release Tuesday, the city of Toronto said cleanup efforts related to the storm were continuing. It says crews worked over the weekend to respond to requests for storm services and received more than 2,900 requests from Saturday.
“To date, all available resources remain for cleaning work and there are a total of 45 crews with cranes, bucket trucks and ground equipment,” the city said. “Crews give priority to responding to public safety or property hazards. They clear roads and support Toronto Hydro by clearing trees of water mains.
The city said it could still take several weeks to complete emergency cleanup.
A number of municipalities have declared a state of emergency, including Whitby, Ajax, Pickering and Uxbridge.
Cheng noted that signals of severe thunderstorms were added only to the provincial Ready for Warning system last June, and said that while alerts are useful tools, people need to be vigilant about changing weather conditions around them.
“Not everyone receives the signals. Your phone may be turned off. “You may not be watching TV or listening to a radio that interrupts broadcasts,” he said. “So it’s so important to know that Mother Nature is giving us clues that when conditions get worse, don’t wait for the signal. Hide yourself and seek shelter immediately and stay away from tall objects such as trees and electric poles, because they can fall on us.
He said more information is needed to ensure people stay alert to dangerous weather.
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