42ND TORNADO OF THE YEAR CONFIRMED From Nov 15 Windstorm Adds to the Already Record Breaking Tornado Season!

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NTP event map (blue EF0, green EF1)

NTP event map (blue EF0, green EF1)

The Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) has confirmed an EF1 Tornado from the wind storm on November 15, 2020 in Georgetown, Ontario. In an already record breaking year, this is also one of the latest tornadoes that Ontario has experienced. The previous record for the most confirmed tornadoes in a year was set in 2009 with 37 tornadoes.

The Investigation map, drone and ground photos from NTP can be found here.

NTP also investigated and confirmed 4 downbursts at New Dundee (EF0), Port Burwell (EF0), Dunnville (EF0) and Ingersoll (EF1).

See the table below for details on the tornado and downbursts (from the NTP dashboard). Note how large the track lengths and path widths are for the downbursts. Tip: view the table in landscape mode on phones.

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At 2:24pm, 21 minutes before the tornado touched down in Georgetown, we posted "Embedded, brief tornadoes are not entirely out of the question today with the strongest storms." This was included in a post about a potential tornado report in Port Burwell, which was later confirmed to be an EF0 downburst:

We also issued forecasts for this significant wind storm and here was the final forecast:

During the wind storm we also provided many updates to keep everyone informed:

Many people experienced power outages from the storm and Hydro One crews had to restore power to 370,000 customers in the most significant storm for Hydro One since May 2018.

Environment Canada issued a weather summary below for the event. They measured both thunderstorm wind gusts and non-thunderstorm wind gusts. 

Weather summary
for Ontario and the National Capital Region
issued by Environment Canada
at 6:33 a.m. EST Monday 16 November 2020.

Discussion.

A powerful Fall Storm tracked through Ontario Sunday and Sunday 
night, bringing widespread destructive winds and severe 
thunderstorms to southern Ontario and strong winds and wintry 
weather to northern Ontario. 

The following is a summary of weather event information received by 
the Ontario Storm Prediction Centre. 

1. Summary of official thunderstorm wind gusts in kilometres per 
hour: 

Niagara District Airport: 141 
Port Colborne: 131 
Brampton-Caledon Airport: 120 
Windsor Airport: 111 
Baden Hill: 105 
Region of Waterloo Airport: 104 
Erieau: 102 
Hamilton Munro Airport: 102 
Point Petre: 102 
Toronto Pearson Airport: 100 
Chatham-Kent Airport: 100 
Toronto Billy Bishop Airport: 98 
Elora: 98 
Vineland: 98 
Muskoka Airport: 96 
Mono Centre: 94 
Western Islands: 91 
Ridgetown: 91 
Sarnia Chris Hadfield Airport: 89 
Egbert: 89 
London Airport: 85 
Harrow: 83 
Mount Forest: 81 
Peterborough Trent U: 81 
Cobourg: 81 
King City: 80 

Widespread damage from these thunderstorms has been reported across 
southwestern and south-central Ontario, including snapped utility 
poles, downed trees, and roof damage. 

2. Summary of official non-thunderstorm wind gusts in kilometres per 
hour: 

Port Colborne: 131 
Baden Hill: 122 
Toronto Billy Bishop Airport: 119 
Region of Waterloo Airport: 117 
Western Islands: 115 
Point Petre: 107 
Chatham-Kent Airport: 98 
Cobourg: 96 
Wiarton Airport: 93 
Windsor Airport: 91 
Erieau: 91 
Lagoon City: 91 
Toronto Pearson Airport: 91 
Mono Centre: 91 
CFB Trenton: 89 
Kingston: 89 
Goderich: 87 
London Airport: 87 
Killarney: 87 
Brantford Airport: 85 
Gore Bay-Manitoulin Airport: 85 
Oshawa AIrport: 85 
Welland: 83 
Vineland: 83 
Tobermory: 83 
CFB Borden: 83 
Harrow: 83 
Ridgetown: 83 
Muskoka Airport: 81 
Great Duck Island: 81 
Elora: 80 
Niagara District Airport: 80 
Sault Ste. Marie Airport: 80 

Widespread damage from this synoptic wind has been reported across 
southwestern and south-central Ontario, including snapped utility 
poles and downed trees. Between the thunderstorms and synoptic 
winds, well over 200 000 customers lost power on Sunday across the 
province. 

3. Summary of rainfall in millimetres: 

Shaw Dam Lake*: 57.7 
Massey*: 40.4 
Quirke Lake*: 40.3 

*denotes data from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and 
Forestry

Please note that this summary may contain preliminary or unofficial 
information and does not constitute a complete or final report.

End/OSPC

The high wind gusts in Port Colborne are likely responsible for this wayward shed.

Thank you to all those who have reported what they experienced during storms as your reports make all the difference when it comes to confirming tornadoes, downbursts, and any severe weather in our region.