Cone tornado touches down north of town, snaps trees & power poles, damages farm
One of several supercell thunderstorms that developed unexpectedly along a lake breeze convergence zone spawned this brief, early-season tornado. As the thunderstorm passed between Thorndale and Dorchester, it interacted with the lake breeze that developed off of Lake Erie and quickly took on the characteristics of a small but classic supercell. Although no tornado warning was issued by Environment Canada, the impressive radar signature did not go unnoticed by enthusiasts on social media, including The Weather Network meteorologist Dayna Vettese.
4:15pm EDT – Storm brown Thorndale and Dorchester showing rotation #onstorm #onwx pic.twitter.com/kHyLFVNRHh
— Dayna Vettese (@daynavettese) April 11, 2017
Indeed, at around this time tornadogenesis was occurring. Viewed from the south and west, a well-defined clear slot cut through and sculpted the storm’s updraft, beneath which the tornado appeared as a ghostly white cone. A few area residents captured photos of the funnel as it touched down. Along its path the tornado snapped trees and power poles, and caused significant damage at one farm in particular. There, it tore most of the roof off of a barn and scattered sheet metal and timber throughout the nearby yard. The tornado tracked for 11km with a path that was up to 200m wide.
@weathernetwork outside of Thamesford Ontario, no Hydro, high winds, rain and this very odd looking cloud pic.twitter.com/2kkLUr6dMu
— Jennifer Waldron (@JennWal73) April 11, 2017
Damage from today’s rotating supercell. #onstorm Details here: https://t.co/MjAiTgUawy Photos via @FotoSchut pic.twitter.com/zgB6IYZmsv
— OntarioTornadoWatch (@ontariotornado) April 12, 2017
