Environment Canada has confirmed that an EF2 tornado landed in Uxbridge on Saturday as a powerful weather system made its way through Ontario, destroying homes and leaving thousands without electricity.
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 evening, Environment Canada said the group’s data has officially confirmed that an EF2 tornado was embedded on the edge of a right, which is a widespread and long-lasting windstorm associated with a line of storms.
Environment Canada said the law developed near Sarnia on Saturday morning and continued northeast over southern Ontario, crossing Ottawa on Saturday afternoon.
“Harmful gusts of wind were reported in much of southern Ontario as severe storms passed,” Environment Canada said. “Following a preliminary analysis of extensive damage in Uxbridge, Ontario, Western University’s Northern Tornadoes project team has officially confirmed that an EF2 tornado was embedded in the forefront of the law.”
The agency said the tornado occurred around 1:15 p.m. Saturday afternoon in Uxbridge and was found to have a maximum wind speed of 195 miles per hour.
Speaking to CP24, Environment Canada warning preparation meteorologist Gerald Cheng said the agency detected winds of only 46 kilometers per hour in Sarnia when the storms first reached Ontario from Michigan, but eventually they realized a mobile alert was needed as the storm began.
“We still issued a severe storm warning, but what really drove us to make sure that those severe storm warnings were part of Alert Ready (warning system) was when we saw the gusts of wind in the “Kitchener Waterloo Airport – 132 miles per hour. With this wind speed up to 20 percent of the tiles could disappear.”
Cheng said the wind speed increased very quickly, leaving a small window to warn people.
“When we look at the wind speed at 12:52 on that Saturday, Pearson reported gusts of 72 miles per hour – it’s a windy day. At 1 p.m., 120 miles per hour. So it went up a lot. quickly.
“We issued a notice for the city of Toronto at 12:45. But you can see that the lead time wasn’t long enough for people to get covered.”
The violent weather system left 10 people dead, caused extensive damage to trees and buildings, and cut off electricity to more than 1 million water customers in Ontario.
In a press release Tuesday, the City of Toronto said its storm-related cleanup efforts are still ongoing. He said crews worked over the weekend to respond to storm service requests and more than 2,900 requests have been received since Saturday.
“To date, all available resources are still devoted to cleaning work and there are a total of 45 teams with cranes, bucket trucks and ground crews,” the city said. “Crews prioritize responding to public safety or property hazards. They are clearing roads and helping Toronto Hydro clear trees from water lines.”
The city said it could still take several weeks to complete the non-emergency clean-up work.
Several municipalities have declared states of emergency, including Whitby, Ajax, Pickering and Uxbridge.
Cheng noted that severe storm alerts were only added to the provincial “Alert Ready” system last June and said that while alerts are useful tools, people should be alert to changing weather conditions in the around him.
“Alerts don’t reach everyone. Your phone may be turned off. You may not be watching TV or listening to the radio interrupting broadcasts,” he said. “So it is so important that you know that Mother Nature gives us clues, that when conditions get worse, don’t wait for the alert. Protect yourself and seek refuge immediately, and stay away from tall objects such as trees and electric poles because they can fall on us. “
He said more dissemination is needed to make sure people stay alert to dangerous weather.