Canadians warned to take tornadoes seriously
Posted May 22, 2013 7:37 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Canadians need to be prepared in the event of a twister, even though our risk of being in the path of a tornado is far less than our neighbours south of the border.
According to Environment Canada, an average of 62 tornadoes touch down in Canada in a single year compared to 1,200 in the United States.
Warm air from the Gulf of Mexico tends to be the problem in the U.S.; it combines with cooler currents from the north, spawning funnel clouds.
Despite our lower risk, experts say that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take these storms seriously and they’re urging people to be prepared.
Warning Preparedness Meteorologist, Peter Kimbell, tells 660News Canada is no stranger to tornadic activity.
“Two areas that are kind of the maximum for activity in Canada are the southern prairies and southern Ontario between Windsor and Barrie,” says Kimbell. “Calgary would be part of that, especially the Foothills; all that area is known for thunderstorms.”
One example was the deadly tornado that tore a path through Edmonton in 1987 killing 24 people.
Kimbell says Canada spares no expense in trying to stay on top of twister activity.
Ninety per cent of the country is covered by weather radio systems that communicate with Environment Canada, emitting tones when a major storm approaches.
Communities on both sides of the border have also introduced emergency sirens in hopes of giving residents a few extra minutes to prepare themselves.
“We take tornadoes very seriously,” says Kimbell. “The forecasters try to put out their watches well ahead of time.”
But Environment Canada says Canadians have a greater chance of being killed by lightning than by a twister.
“In Canada on average there are 10 people killed every year by lightning strikes and about ten times that many, about 100 people, injured by lightning strikes,” says the meteorologist.
Eighty per cent of those cases are from thunderstorms unaccompanied by official warnings.
