ON THIS DAY: Canada's Only Confirmed F5 Tornado - Elie, Manitoba - June 22, 2007
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By Justin1569 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Photo credit to Justin Hobson.
On June 22, 2007, Canada’s only F5 rated tornado destroyed parts of Elie, Manitoba. Canada adopted the Enhanced Fujita scale in 2013 so this will be the only F5 rated tornado in our history. With wind speeds in excess of 420 km/h, it caused $39 million dollars ($48 million in 2020 dollars) of damage destroying several houses, vehicles, and the town’s flour mill.
The tornado was narrow, given its strength, reaching a width of only 300 metres. It was on the ground for roughly 40 min and travelled about 6 km. The tornado winded its way through part of the town as can be seen in the figure below from Mccarthy, Patrick & Carlsen, Dave & Slipec, Jim. (2008). Elie, Manitoba, Canada, June 22, 2007: Canada's first F5 tornado. Houses were torn completely off of their foundations and a Chrysler Fifth Avenue was reportedly tossed onto a neighbour’s roof.
Fortunately, no was killed and there were no seriously injuries. According to ECCC “Many residents were out of town attending a high school graduation ceremony, and those who were home knew what to do, seeking shelter in basements and placing mattresses over their head.”
Below are two videos from Justin Hobson’s channel who witnessed this historic event. The first one was taken by Justin and the second by the residents of Elie:
Events like this remind us that we must stay alert when there is severe weather in our region and, of course, have a plan! Also, we love your reports but please only take videos or photos if it safe to do so!
References and more information:
Canada’s First F5 Tornado, ECCC
2007 Elie, Manitoba tornado, Wikipedia
10 years later, Canada’s only F5 tornado remains in a class of its own, Washington Post
