Head Lake, ON F0 Tornado of August 2, 2006

Peterborough - Kawartha Lakes


Trees were snapped and uprooted, falling on cottages and vehicles. In addition, lawn furniture, flower planters and a barbecue were thrown around, and a cottage was left splattered with lake mud. This probable tornado occurred at 7:40 pm.

This was one of 17 tornadoes that touched down in Southern and Eastern Ontario during the evening hours of August 2, 2006. Until it was surpassed in 2009, the tornado outbreak set a record as the largest tornado outbreak ever recorded in Ontario.

Figure 1 depicts the surface observations at 5:00 pm EDT, which shows a low pressure over Georgian Bay with a cold front stretching into Michigan. This cold front became the focus for intense thunderstorms in the evening hours of August 2nd, which ultimately led to a tornado outbreak across southern Ontario.

Figure 1. Surface analysis at 21Z on August 2, 2006 showing mean sea-level pressure (MSLP) contours, surface observations, fronts and pressure centres (WPC, 2017)

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada (2018), an F0 tornado touched down at 7:40 pm near Head Lake, ON. The path and width of the tornado was not documented by ECCC. The tornado caused no fatalities, injuries or property damage.


Sources

NWS Weather Prediction Center Surface Analysis Archive. (2017). Surface analysis 21Z Wed Aug 2 2006. Retrieved from: https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/archives/web_pages/sfc/sfc_archive.php

Environment and Climate Change Canada Data. (2018). Canadian National Tornado Database: Verified Events (1980-2009) – Public. Retrieved from: http://donnees.ec.gc.ca/data/weather/products/canadian-national-tornado-database-verified-events-1980-2009-public/