Environment Canada says it appears two tornadoes touched down in the London area Wednesday night, causing damage.
There appear to have been no injuries.
The first tornado was spotted in the Glencoe area, southwest of London, at around 7:55 p.m and there were videos on social media documenting it, said Environment Canada meteorologist Yoseph Mengesha.
Just a few minutes earlier, there were reports of dozens of trees down in nearby Newbury, and a snowmobile was tossed across a yard.
At 8:30 p.m., Environment Canada received a report of a tornado in the Belmont area and reports of hydro poles knocked down and numerous tree limbs downed.
A tornado warning for the city of London was issued at 8:46 p.m. but was cancelled seven minutes later.
Analyzing the damage
Researchers are now in the field surveying the damage.
Connell Miller, a research engineer with the North Tornadoes Project at Western University, said he’s trying to determine if it was one tornado or two.
Miller said the path of destruction in the Belmont area appears to be longer than what was first reported and also appears to be a bit stronger.
“We’re finding barns where some of the walls have total collapse. So, I can’t say for certain what it is, but it is longer than I expected.”
Miller said he’s also seeing a lot more crop damage and field damage than structure damage.
“So far, we’ve been to four or five places that have damage.”
To determine the strength of the tornado, he said his team needs to examine how the structures have been affected.
“Did they lose their roofs, what was the connection strength, how does that impact the potential wind speeds of this tornadic event?”
Miller said he and his team expect to be on the scene until late Thursday night.
Thursday’s temps more seasonal
Mengesha said the weather agency normally sends a survey team to the area to verify a tornado, but because of the pandemic, forecasters are using radar, photos and videos to conduct investigations.
“We can say at this moment, it looks like there were two tornadoes,” said Mengesha.
He said the agency will likely conduct a further investigation.
Wednesday night’s storm brought an end to two days of intense heat.
Thursday’s forecast is calling for a more seasonal high of 22 degrees under mainly cloudy skies.