Carleton Place, ON F1 Tornado of May 17, 1992

Smiths Falls - Lanark - Sharbot Lake


This probable tornado occurred at 8:30 pm, destroying one barn entirely and tearing the roof off of another. Witnesses reported observing the tornado. This was one of two tornadoes to touch down in the province on May 17; the other was an F0 at Haggersville.

Figure 1 depicts a cold front slicing through southern Ontario at 8:00 pm EDT. This front and possibly pre-frontal trough triggered storms, which ultimately led to this F0 tornado and the F1 tornado in eastern Ontario.

Figure 1. Surface analysis at 00Z on May 18, 1992 showing mean sea-level pressure (MSLP) contours, surface observations, fronts and pressure centres (WPC, 2017).

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada (2018), an F1 tornado touched down at 8:30 pm EDT near Carleton Place, ON. The track and the width of the tornado was not documented by ECCC. The tornado caused no injuries, fatalities or property damage.


Sources

NWS Weather Prediction Center Surface Analysis Archive. (2017). Surface analysis 00Z Mon May 18 1992. 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/