TORONTO – For about ten minutes on Thursday afternoon, people across the GTA were faced with the possibility of a tornado — even though it was only partly cloudy.
Tornado warnings were issued for parts of Southern Ontario after an OPP officer reported a funnel cloud near Orangeville to Environment Canada. A severe storm had developed and was tracking southeast. Another tornado warning was issued for a storm near Alliston.
“There was some indication of rotation on radar,” said Peter Kimbell, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada.
“So the storm was very localized, and because it was headed southeastward, initially they included Caledon in the warning and as it continued southeastward and maintained its integrity, it would have rolled into areas in northwest of the city, like Bolton, Kleinburg and Brampton. And that’s why they mentioned those regions in the warning and created some anxiety that may not have been justified because it actually dissipated once it got close to Caledon.”
Read: Thunderstorms 101
The challenge that Environment Canada faces, and one that may cause confusion in the eye of the public, is that their warning regions are quite large. Though a storm may be small and very localized, the warning is extended to many areas in that large region, but may be nowhere near the storm.
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In order to address the issue, this summer Environment Canada included more specifics in their text warnings. “We now do have a new feature that does say, ‘communities in the path include,'” said Kimbell.
However, Environment Canada encourages people to take heed of any warnings or watches that are issued, as weather could be developing nearby. It is also important to keep an eye on the sky yourselves. If there appears to be any threat of severe weather, it is always important to seek shelter immediately.
A watch is issued when conditions are favourable for severe weather. A warning is when hazardous weather is imminent or occurring.
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