Weather advisory warns of funnel clouds, thunderstorms in Waterloo Region

Environment Canada has issued a weather advisory for Waterloo Region and our surrounding areas.

The national weather authority warns that we could see funnel clouds, scattered thunderstorms, lightning, strong winds, and large hail this afternoon.

“We do have a general weather advisory in effect for much of southern Ontario, including the Kitchener-Waterloo area. It’s tied to a very unstable air mass, cooler than normal conditions are allowing some of these storm cells to briefly intensify. With that intensification, there is the possibility of some funnel clouds forming. In some cases, those funnel clouds may briefly become tornadoes,” says Warning Preparedness Meteorologist Geoff Coulson.

Coulson adds that these types of tornadoes tend to be short-lived.

“They don’t tend to do significant damage, but it something the forecasters felt folks should be aware of, as it is a possibility today.”

They’re warning us to treat any funnel cloud sightings seriously though, and take cover if threatening weather approaches.

“The greatest chance for funnel cloud activity will be in the afternoon and early evening hours, by the time we get to about 8 p.m. or so, the chance of a funnel cloud should greatly diminish. We are still going to see some lingering showers overnight though that could spill into Friday.”

The advisory has also been issued for Guelph, Erin, Northern Wellington County, Southern Wellington County, and Mount Forest.

Coulson adds that this weather system isn’t connected to any of the current hurricanes.

“This is a separate weather system, so this is a large area of low pressure. This type of situation lends itself to the formation of pop-up showers and weak thunderstorms, and also the possibility of funnel clouds and tornadoes.”

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