Residents across the Fraser Valley were marveling at the power of nature this weekend when a funnel cloud appeared suddenly on Saturday afternoon during some stormy weather.
“It came out of the sky super fast and it was only there for maybe about a minute max,” Chilliwack resident Kyle Power told Global News.
“About 3 p.m. and we were just heading into Abbotsford and we just noticed the funnel coming out of the sky and so we pulled over and started taking some video of it.”
Marcel Lafonde was at his home studying when he also captured the funnel cloud on video.
“There was thunder and I was just studying and then I looked out the window and saw this elongation coming from the clouds and I thought, ‘What is that?'” he said.
“I’ve never seen that before and it was really cool.”
Environment Canada said this was the only report of a funnel cloud in the province on Saturday.
“A funnel cloud is a rotating funnel of air beneath a thunderstorm and a funnel cloud doesn’t touch down so it’s not a tornado,” Louis Kohanyi with Environment Canada said.
Those who saw the funnel cloud said it lasted for a minute or two before the hail started falling.
Kohanyi said funnel clouds do not appear often in the Fraser Valley.
“It does happen once in a while but it’s quite rare,” he said.
“It can be associated with thunderstorms when the air aloft is very cold. So it can be observed in the spring or the summer in the Fraser Valley.”