Potential tornado 'surreal' for residents who witnessed damaging storm in southern Ontario
Witnessing a potential tornado was “surreal” for residents who caught a glimpse of the damaging storm in southern Ontario on Wednesday night.
At around 9:35 p.m., Mona Ashim, was on her way home from work when a dark funnel cloud could be seen in the distance as lightning flashed across the stormy sky near Alliston, Ont.
“I had never seen anything like that before,” Ashim said. While her husband drove through heavy droplets of rain, she saw a tornado warning pop up on her phone.
- Watch video of a potential tornado in southern Ontario in the player above
Environment Canada released the warning for Newmarket, Bradford, Aurora, East Gwillimbury, Georgina, and Bradford West Gwillimbury. It alerted residents: “This is a dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation.”
Meanwhile, in Bradford, Gabriel Berardo posted a video as the storm brewed. “It looks to be intensifying, actually,” he said around 9 p.m., standing in front of heavy storm clouds and a sky flickering with lightning. “There is rotation on it and it appears to be strengthening.”
Just 30 minutes later, he captured video of a potential tornado. “It’s kind of scary, not going to lie,” he said as a funnel flashed in the distance.
Further south, Ethan Collins posted a video that appeared to be a timelapse of the storm in Newmarket. “This IS NOT a timelapse,” he clarified. “I took this as a tornado warning was issued.”
In the 30-second video, the sky flickered from pitch black to sudden strobes of light.
“The intensity of the lightning was surreal. It was making it hard to see what was going on in the sky,” Collins said Thursday morning recalling watching the storm.
“I knew if I saw large debris flying through the air, it would be time to take shelter. Thankfully it never came to that.”
Northern Tornadoes Project Executive Director Dr. David Sills said nearly all of the severe weather reports his team received on Wednesday were tied to hail – measuring up to 75mm – with very little in the way of wind damage, and no tornado sightings.
Active power outages continued to pepper southern Ontario on Thursday morning. “Our crews are out in full force responding as quickly and safely as possible to outages caused by damaging thunderstorms that continue to affect parts of the province,” Hydro One posted on its website.
“Outages are largely being caused by downed lines from trees or tree limbs,” the statement went on to say, noting the hardest hit areas as Huntsville, Bracebridge, Orillia, Barrie and Penetanguishene.
On Thursday morning, a sunny sky clear of clouds graced southern Ontario.
“While we continue on with the fair but gusty conditions for Friday, the sunshine and seasonably warm weather will be short-lived. Another round of wet/stormy weather moves in Saturday afternoon. Much cooler winds arrive early next week,” CP24 Meteorologist Bill Coulter said.
“Enjoy or endure the early season summer-like warmth while it’s here.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
A new tax filing system could give Canadians more than $1 billion in unclaimed benefits: PBO
Canadians would get more than $1 billion in unclaimed benefits each year through an automatic tax filing system, according to a report published by the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO).
Prince William shares childhood photo of him and King Charles III for Father's Day
Prince William on Sunday shared a photograph showing him as a child with his father, King Charles III, to mark Father’s Day in the United Kingdom this year.
Maine police kill armed man after a night of gunfire and burned homes
A Maine State Police tactical team fatally shot a man on a rooftop early Saturday after an hourslong standoff in which authorities said he opened fire at officers, two homes burned down and a person who fought with him apparently died.
Rare surgery in Montreal allows 9-year-old girl to live normal life
A rare surgery at the Montreal Children's Hospital is allowing a nine-year-old girl to keep her adrenal glands and live a normal life.
Video shows northern Ont. storm hammer shoreline, breaking dock
The owner of a northern Ont. camp is continuing to clean up after an intense storm that prompted a tornado warning Thursday ripped through the area breaking his dock and downing trees.
East Coast authorities working on warning signs for great white sharks
There's growing evidence that the number of great white sharks is on the rise along Canada's East Coast, where plans are in the works to post warning signs for beachgoers for the first time.
Foreign Affairs Minister insists there are no ‘traitors’ in Liberal caucus
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly insists there are no "traitors" in the Liberal caucus, after a report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) alleged there are MPs and senators who are “semi-witting or witting participants” in foreign interference efforts.
80 countries at Swiss conference agree territorial integrity of Ukraine must be basis of any peace
Eighty countries jointly called Sunday for the "territorial integrity" of Ukraine to be the basis for any peace agreement to end Russia’s war, though some key developing nations at a Swiss conference did not join in.
Global study ranks two Canadian cities high on list of most expensive places to buy a home
As Canadians continue to struggle with the extremely high cost of buying a home in some of the country’s major urban centres, a new global report is underscoring just how expensive some of those markets are.