Major storms hit Canada province

Source: bbc

Violent storms have ripped across southern parts of the Canadian province of Ontario, damaging buildings, closing roads and killing one person.

Reports said some 120 homes were evacuated, and power lines supplying 60,000 people came down.

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper said his government would work with local authorities to help deal with the cleanup operation.

The storms included funnel clouds which tore roofs off homes, reports said.


Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8214215.stm

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there's a video available.

24 hour weather loop
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/sat_loop.php?image=ir&hours=24

4 tornadoes touched down in Minneapolis. The first at 2:01pm there was no warning, and the weather service said because the clouds were so low, the winds so high and the rain in them was so heavy,there was nothing to even put out a watch until it hit.

The storm came in heading wnw at 30mph made a turn heading north right over the Twin Cities exiting at 40mph as it picked up intensity. You can see it swirling and bringing the rain we had all day yesterday. The storm at one time had 3 tornados one heading due east, one heading ENE and one heading NNE. Luckily they bounced rather than remained on the ground. No one was badly injured but lots of property damage.

August is when the corn, which is late this year because of the cool weather, finishes growing and starts drying out. The weather system brought the very cool air back down and we were in the upper 40's lower 50's, increasing the chance of an early frost. Tomatoes are just starting to come in in the last 10 days, very, very late.

It's probably too wet for the locusts to move in ... besides, what with having no sun, there wouldn't be much for them to chew on anyway ...

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090821/ontario_storm_090821/20090821?hub=Canada

I talked to my mum north of Toronto around when it was all happening - she'd had tornado watch warnings, but it seems to have gone south of her. We've just been having a summer of spectacular thunderstorms - there have been wet summers before, but the number and intensity of storms this year are striking. August is usually summer hailstorm season. Any day now.

Southern/Southwestern Ontario is becoming a tornado alley, it seems.

One of yesterday's:



"The tornado touched down four blocks south of our home in Durham. I could hear it coming, it sounded just like a long freight train going by. Unnerving, to say the least. My neighbour worked at the printing place that was demolished, what the news didn't report is that there were 13 people inside at the time it was hit. They all survived by hanging on to the large printing press anchored to the floor."