Severe weather batters Canada

Two areas of nasty weather have caused disruption in separate parts of Canada. The worst of the conditions have been across Ontario and Alberta.

A tornado ripped through the town of Angus, about 110 km north of Toronto on Tuesday night. Clean-up efforts in the small town have been delayed because up to 100 homes have been temporarily condemned until authorities can deem them safe.

Three people suffered minor injuries from the EF2 tornado that brought wind gusts of over 100 kph. The EF scale, or Enhance Fujita scale, is used to rate tornadoes in North America, with EF5 being the most powerful.

Over 3,500 residencies temporarily lost power during the storm.
 
Further west, another storm system brought torrential rain to parts of Alberta. As a result, several communities in the south are under a state of emergency.

A large stationary area of low pressure brought the heavy downpours to parts of western-central Canada. Val Marie in southeast Saskatchewan had 87mm of rain in 24 hours. Across the state border in Alberta, Waterton Park Gate notched up 57mm while Del Bonita recorded 59mm.

A government representative for the Alberta Emergency Alert said “there are elevated water levels in streams and rivers that may create dangerous situations or lead to flooding. The Oldman, St. Mary, Belly and Waterton rivers are rising.”

In the town of Clarsholm, located an hour southeast of Calgary, officials are asking some residents to leave their homes because of overland flooding. Many public buildings including schools have been closed to all students except those taking exams.

The heaviest rain is now in the process of moving east and there is the potential for more severe storms in Ontario. The tornado risk is diminishing but we could still see further thundery downpours with a risk of large hail.