Experts classify Didsbury storm as possible to probable tornado
Posted Jul 4, 2012 12:33 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The clean-up is continuing after a violent wind storm swept through the Didsbury area, overturning vehicles and ripping the roofs off homes.
Environment Canada experts believe a possible to probable tornado swept through the area and they are continuing to investigate.
Meteorologist Bill McMurtry tells 660News they’re looking at everything from radar patterns to eye-witness accounts.
He adds many times it’s difficult for them to get to the scene.
“We heavily rely on observers in the field, people to take pictures, eye-witness accounts and send that information into us,” he says. “As well, we’ll also analyze radar information and other weather element information.”
He says winds in the area last night were clocked at 150 to 170 kilometres an hour.
“That category is what we would call an F-1 on the Fujita scale when we look at damage,” says McMurtry. “Most of the events we see in Alberta are typically F-0.”
At this point, the meteorologist says it is too soon to tell when they’ll be able to make a final determination.
He adds many times it happens several months later, in the fall, after they’ve had time to speak with people in the region.
“In the end, it doesn’t matter if it was a tornado or straight line winds….. when you get winds of that magnitude……you get significant damage,” he says.
According to Environment Canada, Alberta has approximately a dozen tornadoes every year and is on target for it’s number of severe storms.
