Environment Canada staff say they will be conducting an internal review of the department’s actions and notifications in response to an EF-2 tornado that caused major damage in Keswick amid several complaints a warning came after the twister already moved through the area.
Tornado warning continued for:
Durham Region, York Region, and the city of Toronto.
Environment Canada meteorologists are tracking a severe thunderstorm that is possibly producing a tornado. Damaging winds, large hail and locally intense rainfall are also possible.
Doppler radar indicates a potential tornado near Durham Region and another potential tornado East going towards Bowmanville.
Take cover immediately, if threatening weather approaches. Lightning kills and injures Canadians every year. Remember, when thunder roars, go indoors!
The Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management recommends that you take cover immediately if threatening weather approaches.
Tornado warnings are issued when imminent or occurring thunderstorms are likely to produce or are producing tornadoes.
Please continue to monitor alerts and forecasts issued by Environment Canada. To report severe weather, send an email to ec.cpio-tempetes-ospc-storms.ec@canada.ca or tweet reports using #ONStorm.
“[Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)] regularly conducts internal reviews of major weather events, including the meteorology and warning process, to ensure that we track lessons learned. We will complete the post-tornado event review at the end of the summer severe weather season,” a statement to Global News said, noting meteorologists are in the height of the peak period for tornadoes.
“ECCC takes its responsibility to produce high quality and reliable weather forecasts and timely severe weather warnings for Canadians very seriously. A tornado can be tens to hundreds of metres wide and have a lifespan of minutes or hours.”
It was on Thursday Night when the powerful tornado, with estimated wind speeds of up to 210 km/h, passed through the southern end of Georgina and through Keswick. Most of the damage was concentrated to the neighbourhood near Prince William Way and Mapleview Drive East. However, there were damages reported west of the area along Mapleview Drive East, a path of damage that was at least five kilometres long.
Global News previously reported on how residents took to social media and questioned the timeliness of a tornado warning. Since the initial story, Global News received additional complaints from people in the area who echoed the observations.
“At the time I didn’t think a one had been issued, though wasn’t sure it had not. It’s my policy to defer to [Environment and Climate Change Canada] watches/warnings, not to ‘issue my own.’ BUT man it’s tough when you think [tornado] + city – warning,” he tweeted Friday morning.
Will Dunn tweeted he got the alert on his phone at 2:39 p.m., which was roughly when the tornado was in the area.
“Is there a delay in getting warnings issued or was @ECCCWeatherON slow in responding? People could have been killed here,” he questioned.
“We got the alert on the phone just after it hit. It’s possible that the warning came beforehand and there is a slight delay. But yeah overall it was unfortunately too late,” Mario Trunz wrote in response to Dunn’s tweet.
Global News chief meteorologist Anthony Farnell said the first tornado signature with a hook on reflectivity and velocity in a tight rotation appeared on radar at around 10:22 p.m., just more than 15 minutes before the warning was issued.
While Farnell said he couldn’t comment on the process of issuing an alert, he noted it appeared the alerts were also issued as the storm system moved east with other tornadoes being reported.
In King City where a new radar system came online in late June, it is now providing detailed scans of central Ontario every six minutes instead of every 10 minutes under the old system. Farnell said that new technology is an important tool for Environment Canada and weather watchers.
“This should (and did for many meteorologists) give vital information on the storm’s intensity and track. It is the reason I feel confident to say a warning should have been issued much earlier,” he said.
While Farnell said he couldn’t comment on the process of issuing an alert, he noted it appeared the alerts were also issued as the storm system moved east with other tornadoes being reported.
In King City where a new radar system came online in late June, it is now providing detailed scans of central Ontario every six minutes instead of every 10 minutes under the old system. Farnell said that new technology is an important tool for Environment Canada and weather watchers.
“This should (and did for many meteorologists) give vital information on the storm’s intensity and track. It is the reason I feel confident to say a warning should have been issued much earlier,” he said.
With the varying alerts and warnings that are issued for a variety of situations, Brassard said people have a tendency to ignore messages after time. He said earlier watches and warnings might have been ignored, suggesting maybe better differentiating and highlighting different risks.
Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman said he was also among those who got the alert after the tornado passed. He said he thinks any potential delays should be reviewed. However, he echoed other comments that said the storm came on very suddenly