Environment Canada confirms EF-2 tornado near Hawkesville
Posted Aug 12, 2017 05:54:21 AM.
Last Updated Aug 14, 2017 07:18:45 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Environment Canada has confirmed two tornadoes touched down in southwestern Ontario Friday night — including one just 20 minutes northwest of Kitchener and Waterloo.
The national weather service confirmed Saturday that an EF-2 tornado touched down near Hawkesville around 7:30 p.m.
“Farm building and sheds were damaged with one anchored shed completely destroyed. Farm equipment weighing over a ton was knocked over including a fork lift, a metal press and a grain drill,” the agency said, adding that maximum winds were estimated as 180 km/h.
Hawkesville, along with Elmira, St. Jacobs, and north Waterloo were hit with strong winds and heavy rain for most of Friday night, since the bulk of the storm was formed in that area.
Environment Canada’s damage assessment team also confirms an EF-0 tornado with maximum winds of 130 km/h touched down near Leamington around 5:40 p.m., damaging solar panels and a greenhouse.
No injuries have been reported from either tornado.
Mark Schuster with the national weather agency tells 570 NEWS it was a hot and cold front that formed the storm cell. “After days of hot and humid weather, the hot and cold front mixed together, forming really what would be the perfect ingredients to make a storm of this magnitude.”
Environment Canada also has confirmed that there was localized flooding in north Waterloo.
Waterloo Region and Wellington County were under tornado warnings for most of Friday evening, as the storm moved quickly to the east.
