Earth:List of fatal and violent Canadian tornadoes

From HandWiki

This page lists all tornadoes that have occurred in Canada that have documented fatalities, or have a rating of F3/EF3 or higher in intensity. Canada adopted the Enhanced Fujita scale on April 1, 2013, with the country using the Fujita scale before. Both scales measure how violent tornadoes are, measuring damage done by tornadoes to look at how fast the windspeeds would be inside of a tornado; however the Enhanced Fujita scale takes into consideration the condition of buildings prior to the tornado when assessing damage. Less than 5% of tornadoes that occur in Canada are rated as F3/EF3 or higher.

The only officially rated F5/EF5 tornado in Canada is the 2007 Elie Tornado, however Thomas P. Grazulis of The Tornado Project has unofficially rated the 1920 Alameda-Frobisher Tornado and the 1935 Benson Tornado as F5 (neither having any official intensity ratings due to their age).

The deadliest tornadoes in Canadian history were the 1912 Regina 'Cyclone' (at least 28), 1987 Edmonton 'Black Friday' Tornado (27), and the 1946 Windsor–Tecumseh Tornado (17).

Severe tornadoes

List of Severe Tornadoes in Canadian History[1][2][3]
Date Tornado Province F/EF Fatalities Damage ($2023 CAD) Localities Affected Notes
1829, Jun 2 1829 Guelph Tornado ON - (likely F4+) ? - Guelph, ON Very strong tornado, swept buildings away, likely F4 or F5[4]
1829, Aug 7 1829 Galt Tornado ON - 1~ - Galt (now apart of Cambridge, ON)
1879, Aug 6 1879 Bouctouche Tornado NB F3 5 - 8 $4,200,000 Grand-Bouctouche, NB Easternmost fatal tornado in North American history
1884, May 15 1884 Elora-Mapleton Tornado ON F4 0 - Elora, ON - Mapleton, ON
1888, Jun 6 1888 Cornwall Tornado ON - 3~ - Cornwall, ON
1888, Aug 16 1888 Salaberry-de-Valleyfield ON & QC - 9 - 11 - South Glengarry, ON - Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, QU Started in Ontario, and later crossed the border into Quebec
1892, Jun 14 1892 St. Rose Tornado QC - 6 - Montreal
1912, Jun 30 1912 Regina Cyclone SK F4 ≥28 $103,000,000 Regina, SK
1915, Jun 25 1915 Redcliff Tornado AB F4 2 - Redcliff, AB
1920, Jul 22 1920 Alameda-Frobisher Tornado SK F5 (estimated) 4 $1,400,000 Alameda, SK - Frobisher, SK No official ratings, but was unofficially rated as F5 by Thomas P. Grazulis[5]
1922, Jun 22 1922 Southern Manitoba Tornado(es) MB - 5 - Portage la Prairie, MB Officially recorded as just one tornado, but was thought to have been multiple
1935, Jul 1 1935 Benson Tornado SK F5 (estimated) 1 - Benson, SK No official ratings, but was unofficially rated as F5 by Thomas P. Grazulis[5]
1944, Aug 9 1944 Kamsack Tornado SK - 4 - Kamsack, SK
1946, Jun 17 1946 Windsor–Tecumseh Tornado ON F4 17 $163,000,000 River Rouge, USA - Windsor, ON - Tecumseh, ON High-end F4, borderline F5[6]
1946, Jun 24 1946 Fort Frances Tornado ON F3 0 - International Falls, USA - Fort Frances, ON - Rainy River, ON Crossed the border from Minnesota into Ontario
1953, May 21 1953 Sarnia Tornado ON F4 7 - Port Huron, USA - Sarnia, ON Crossed the border from Michigan into Ontario
1967, Apr 17 1967 Huron-Perth Tornado ON F3 0~ - Huron County, ON - Perth County, ON - St. Jacobs, ON
1970, Aug 20 1970 Sudbury Tornado ON F3 6 $78,200,000+ Greater Sudbury, ON - North Bay, ON - Chalk River, ON
1974, Apr 3 1974 Windsor-Flat Rock Tornado ON F3 9 $3,040,000 Flat Rock, MI - Windsor, ON
1977, July 18 1977 St. Malo Tornado MB F4 3 - St. Malo, MB
1978, Jun 19 1978 Morris-Ostenfeld Tornado MB - 1 $8,680,000 Morris, MB - Taché, MB - Aubigny, MB - Ste. Anne, MB
1979, Aug 7 1979 Woodstock-Stratford Tornado ON F4 2 $434,000,000 Woodstock, ON - Stratford, ON Was the costliest tornado prior to the 1987 Edmonton tornado
1982, Jun 30 1982 Rocky Mountain House Tornado AB F3 0 $1,450,000 Rocky Mountain House, AB
1985, May 31 1985 Barrie Tornado ON F4 12 $337,000,000 Hopeville, ON - Barrie, ON Apart of the 1985 Midwest Tornado Outbreak
1985, May 31 1985 Grand Valley-Tottenham Tornado ON F4 4 - Grand Valley, ON - Orangeville, ON - Tottenham, ON Apart of the 1985 Midwest Tornado Outbreak
1985, May 31 1985 Rice Lake Tornado ON F3 0 - Rice Lake, ON - Erin, ON Apart of the 1985 Midwest Tornado Outbreak - twin tornado with Alma Tornado
1985, May 31 1985 Alma-Hillsburgh Tornado ON F3 0 - Alma, ON - Rice Lake, ON - Erin, ON Apart of the 1985 Midwest Tornado Outbreak - twin tornado with Rice Lake
1987, Jul 31 1987 Edmonton Tornado AB F4 27 $771,000,000 Edmonton, AB Very high-end F4, missed the F5 rating by only a few mph
1993, Jul 29 1993 Holden Tornado AB F3 0 - Holden, AB
1994, Jul 10 1994 Turtle Mountain Tornado MB F4 0 $1,850,000 Killarney-Turtle Mountain, MB
2000, Jul 14 2000 Pine Lake Tornado AB F3 12 $21,600,000 Pine Lake, AB
2000, Jul 23 2000 Marwayne Tornado AB F3 0 - Marwayne, AB
2007, Jun 22 2007 Elie Tornado MB F5 0 $55,600,000 Elie, MB Canada's first and only officially rated F5/EF5
2007, Jun 23 2007 Baldur Tornado MB F3 0 - Baldur, MB
2007, Jun 23 2007 Pipestone Tornado MB F3 0 - Baldur, MB - Oakville, MB - Pipestone, MB Very violent tornado that did not hit anything significant, could have been F5
2009, Aug 20 2009 Durham Tornado ON F2 1 - Durham, ON
2010, Jun 29 2010 Raymond Tornado SK F3 0 $18,000,000 Kawacatoose Reserve 88, SK
2011, Aug 21 2011 Goderich Tornado ON F3 1 $149,000,000 Goderich, ON Caused significant electrical outages to surrounding municipalities
2018, Aug 3 2018 Alonsa Tornado MB EF4 1 $2,300,000 Alonsa, MB EF5 damage observed, but building was deemed poor condition[7]
2018, Sep 21 2018 Ottawa Tornado ON EF3 0 $388,000,000 Ottawa, ON High-end EF3, borderline EF4
2020, Aug 8 2020 Scarth Tornado MB EF3 2 - Scarth, MB
2023, Jul 1 2023 Didsbury Tornado AB EF4 0 - Didsbury, AB

See also

  • List of Canadian tornadoes and tornado outbreaks (before 2001)
  • List of Canadian tornadoes and tornado outbreaks (since 2001)
  • List of F5 and EF5 tornadoes
  • Tornado

References

  1. "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://www.iclr.org/pdf/Final%20Tornado%20Barrie%20case%20study%20paper%20March%202002.pdf. 
  2. "Blog Posts" (in en). https://www.uwo.ca/ntp/blog/index.html. 
  3. Canada, Public Safety (2018-12-21). "The Canadian Disaster Database". https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/cndn-dsstr-dtbs/index-en.aspx. 
  4. Staff, Advertiser (2018-09-27). "Tornado partially destroyed infant town of Guelph in 1829" (in en-US). https://www.wellingtonadvertiser.com/tornado-partially-destroyed-infant-town-of-guelph-in-1829/. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 Grazulis, Thomas P. (2001). The Tornado: Nature's Ultimate Windstorm. The Tornado Project -- St. Johnsbury. pp. 18. ISBN 0-8061-3258-2. 
  6. "Windsor Tornado - June 17, 1946". 2003-01-11. http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/canwarn/windsor-e.html. 
  7. Stevenson, Sarah A.; Miller, Connell S.; Sills, David M. L.; Kopp, Gregory A.; Rhee, Daniel M.; Lombardo, Franklin T. (2023-07-01). "Assessment of wind speeds along the damage path of the Alonsa, Manitoba EF4 tornado on 3 August 2018". Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics 238: 105422. doi:10.1016/j.jweia.2023.105422. ISSN 0167-6105.