A major storm that toppled trees and damaged some buildings in Penetanguishene and surrounding areas Tuesday is now confirmed as a tornado.
According to the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP), an upper-end EF0 tornado occurred Tuesday evening in the area. No one was injured as a result of the weather event.
According to preliminary results based on ground survey data (drone imagery not yet analyzed), an NTP team recorded a path of mostly tree damage stretching for 2.5 kilometres with a width of 300 metres.
And with a maximum wind speed of 125 kilometres per hour, the group is classifying Tuesday’s occurrence as an upper-end EFO tornado. An EF0 tornado is the weakest tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
By comparison at the top of Fujita Scale, an EF5 tornado will cause near total destruction while packing winds greater than 323 kilometres per hour.
Founded in 2017 as a partnership between Western University and Impact WX, NTP aims to better detect tornado occurrence throughout Canada, improve severe and extreme weather understanding and prediction, mitigate against harm to people and property, and investigate future implications due to climate change.
Western University also partners with the University of Manitoba, Pelmorex's The Weather Network, Instant Weather and CatlQ, and closely collaborates with Environment and Climate Change Canada and several Canadian and international universities on the project.
