Landspout tornado swirls through crops between Morpeth & Clearview, Chatham-Kent
This tornado developed as a fall-like weather pattern set off a surprisingly active day for storms across Southern Ontario. A cluster of thunderstorms developed over Lake Erie and along the lake breeze toward London, many of which produced wall clouds or funnels. The parent storm that produced this tornado was the westernmost cell. The tornado was a photogenic landspout that appeared as a slender cone, then as a rope. Residents captured photos and videos of the funnel, and although contact with the ground was not obvious in most, at least one video did capture close-up footage of violent ground circulation. A damage survey conducted by researchers with the Northern Tornadoes Project determined the tornado’s path to be 700 metres long and about 10 metres wide. Damage was light and consisted of isolated instances of snapped or uprooted trees. Although there was a second hand account of a resident seeing crops sucked up by the tornado, the researchers were unable to identify crop damage. The tornado was estimated to be a low to mid-level EF0, with winds of around 100km/h.
Tornado warning in effect for southwestern Ontario: Windsor, Essex, Chatham-Kent, and Elgin. An eyewitness reported a funnel cloud sighting south of the 401. Updates will be posted as they become available. #ONStorm #ONWX pic.twitter.com/9aZX8dXi1I
— The Weather Network (@weathernetwork) July 29, 2018
Here is the video…. pic.twitter.com/w7gtfVVDvK
— Robin King Stonefish (@Pitchi_Robin) July 29, 2018
Tornado near Ridgetown @weathernetwork pic.twitter.com/bq1s6Odqtn
— Jenny Goodal (@jenny_goodal) July 29, 2018
#Onstorm Laura S. sent us this video of a funnel cloud on the tornado warned storms east Chatham. Taken on Highway #3 just outside Highgate. 12:05pm pic.twitter.com/Bg8Rj5mNeR
— OntarioStormTracker (@Onstormtracker) July 29, 2018
Spotted this east of Ridgetown this morning pic.twitter.com/K2T9VUpYP9
— neil elmes (@ElmesNeil) July 29, 2018
Land/Water Spout south of Tilbury? pic.twitter.com/Z8nqpKeLnj
— Christopher Chalmers (@Chalmers96) July 29, 2018
This photo was just sent to us. It is a funnel cloud outside of Ridgetown. pic.twitter.com/fvuMz28zS0
— Blackburn News CK (@BlackburnCK) July 29, 2018