Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) officials confirmed Tuesday that two tornadoes touched down in central Alberta the day before.
The weather agency is now seeking photos and videos of damage left behind.
Officials said the first tornado touched down at around 2:45 p.m. near the community of Edberg, about 125 kilometres southeast of Edmonton. Over the course of that investigation, they received reports of damage to buildings and trees.
ECCC is still investigating to see if it was a singular incident or if there were multiple tornadoes in the area between the hours of 2:45 p.m. and 4 p.m.
A second tornado was confirmed near Halkirk around 4:45 p.m. While ECCC officials said they received photos of the tornado, there have been no reports of damage associated with that event so far.
Amanda Wolfe, who lives in Edberg, said on Monday she was sitting in her living room and texting with her niece when she went outside and spotted a funnel.
“It was just, I’m going to say, a couple blocks over, … just on the outskirts of Edberg,” she said.
“I didn’t think it was super scary. I thought it was kind of cool.”
Wolfe described the funnel as slower moving and very large.
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“There is a house that did get hit, and there’s some damage to the house,” she said.
Matt Reber was working just outside Edberg when the twister appeared, initially looking like a dust devil.
“It just looks like dirt swirling around, and then it kind of grew really fast,” he said.
Reber remarked on how unusual the tornado was: he estimated he was standing a few hundred metres away and the sky was sunny and conditions were relatively mild outside of the tornado itself.
“It was as calm as could be 250 metres away,” he said, adding the twister then hit a neighbour’s house.
A tornado watch was issued just before 3:30 p.m. on Monday for a swath of central Alberta, where ECCC said conditions were favourable for the development of funnel clouds and possibly brief, weak tornadoes.
ECCC has partnered with the Northern Tornadoes Project to conduct a storm damage survey.
ECCC meteorologists are seeking pictures of any damage these events may have caused. Should you have any information regarding this event, or want to report severe weather at any time, please call 1-800-239-0484, email storm@ec.gc.ca, or post on X to #ABstorm.
With files from Emily Mertz and Karen Bartko, Global News
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