Cleanup is underway after a tornado touched down in Manitoba’s Parkland region Sunday evening, continuing a summer of severe weather in the province.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) confirmed a Sunday night tornado near Rossburn and said there was a possible tornado near Roblin as part of a storm system that evening.
The Northern Tornado Project said late Monday afternoon that the Rossburn tornado was at least an EF-2 rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Wind speeds for an EF2 range from 180 to 240 km/h.
“It was a really active day,” said Brian Proctor, a meteorologist at ECCC, on Monday. “Conditions were right for a number of storms to really form, and they did, and they produced a lot of havoc.”
The Northern Tornado Project is currently assessing the wind speed to see if a higher rating is possible.
Photos and videos from social media show a farmhouse in the community was damaged by the tornado, with debris scattered around the yard. Proctor said damaged trees were also observed.
An exact rating for the tornado is not yet known. The Northern Tornadoes Project, which is based in London, Ont., is in the area now assessing damage.
‘It just seemed to be getting bigger’
Barb Inkster witnessed the tornado near Rossburn while driving on Highway 16 and pulled over to get a look.
“There were lots of weird clouds as I was driving,” she recalled on Monday. “It almost looked like little fingers coming down.”
Inkster was messaging a friend, who is an amateur storm chaser, when the clouds changed.
“All of a sudden, it went on the ground,” Inkster said.
“There was no wind there, but I could see this funnel cloud, and then it just seemed to be getting bigger and moving faster.”
Inkster took multiple photos of the tornado and the clouds as it moved in the distance.
“It was almost like, you would blink, and it was in a different spot,” she said.
Shannon Bileski, a Manitoba storm chaser, was also out in the area following the storm.
“I followed where the boundary was happening and watched it just explode,” she said. “Within 48 minutes, it went from nothing to a big wedge tornado on the ground.”
Bileski, who witnessed the 2007 tornado that hit Elie, said Sunday’s tornado was among the strongest she had seen.
“It looked a lot more violent,” she said. “There were multiple vortices there. It was a pretty strong tornado yesterday.”
‘A very active summer’
Proctor said this year’s tornado season on the prairies has been a busy one.
Three tornadoes ranked EF0 on the Enhanced Fujita scale were reported in Douglas, Manitou and Sperling on June 2, while two more , also rated EF0, were confirmed in Dufrost and Ste. Anne on June 9. Saskatchewan has also seen tornado activity, with a tornado rated EF3 in Oxbow, also on June 9.
“It’s been quite an active year for tornado activity, and it’s also been a really active year from terms of severe downpours, as well, across much of Manitoba,” Proctor said. “It’s been a very active summer.”
Proctor said the severe weather season started earlier this year compared to previous years, and the province should expect more.
“We’ve got a lot of summer to get through,” he said.
In terms of Sunday night rain, much of western Manitoba got between 20 and 30 millimetres. Higher totals were seen in San Clara, which received 80.9 mm; Lake Audy, which got 45.8 mm; and Swan River, which saw 33.5 mm.
Due to the storm system on Sunday, Dauphin CountryFest closed the main stage for safety.
Do you have any pictures or videos of Sunday’s tornado? We’d like to see it. Email winnipegnews@ctv.ca and it may be featured on our website or newscast.
