Manitoba’s first tornado of the year touches down
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/06/2017 (2471 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Manitoba’s first tornado of 2017 touched down on the first day of summer.
Numerous sightings of a funnel cloud were reported near Sapotaweyak Cree Nation Wednesday around 2:30 p.m.
Environment Canada meteorologist Robyn Dyck said a tornado has been confirmed at Sapotaweyak Cree Nation near Pelican Rapids, about 115 kilometres northeast of Swan River.
“We do think it was not necessarily a landspout tornado, but a real supercell tornado from a thunderstorm. They can be quite severe so they can produce large hail, strong winds and severe rain. These are the types of thunderstorms that we expect to produce tornadoes,” Dyck said Thursday.
A landspout originates on the ground, while a supercell tornado develops skyward from a thunderstorm, she said.
Sapotaweyak Cree Nation is located about 600 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg along the southeast shore of Lake Winnipegosis and near the Shoal River. Pelican Rapids is located just to the west.
The tornado was estimated to have been on the ground for a few minutes, Dyck said.
Environment Canada monitors social media, particularly the hashtag #MBstorm, which is where the first reports of the tornado were discovered, she said.
There were no injuries where the tornado touched down and no reports so far of any damage. The tornado has been given a preliminary rating on the Enhanced Fujita scale of EF0 which is common for confirmed tornadoes with no reported damage and means wind speeds were estimated to be between 105-137 km/h.
ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca