Sheffield, ON EF1 Tornado of October 6, 2014

City of Hamilton


This nighttime tornado struck the town of Sheffield, causing EF1 damage to homes and properties. It touched down in the town at 10:30 pm, with a width of 150m and a path that was 1.5 km long. Siding and shingles were torn from houses and windows were shattered, a travel camper was destroyed and trees down. At the community ballpark, a set of bleachers was picked up and moved a short distance through the air.

Figure 1. Surface analysis at 03Z on October 7, 2014 showing mean sea-level pressure (MSLP) contours, surface observations, fronts and pressure centres (WPC, 2017)

Figure 1 depicts the surface observations at 11:00 pm EDT, which shows a cold front moving through parts of southwestern Ontario. This front became the focus for thunderstorm activity in the evening hours of October 6th, which ultimately led to this tornado.


Sources

NWS Weather Prediction Center Surface Analysis Archive. (2017). Surface analysis 03Z Tue Oct 7 2014. Retrieved from: https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/archives/web_pages/sfc/sfc_archive.php