List of fatal and violent Canadian tornadoes explained

This page lists all tornadoes that have occurred in Canada that have documented fatalities, or have a rating of F3/EF3 or higher in intensity.

Canada adopted the Enhanced Fujita scale on April 1, 2013, with the country using the Fujita scale before. Both scales measure how violent tornadoes are, measuring damage done by tornadoes to look at how fast the windspeeds would be inside of a tornado; however the Enhanced Fujita scale takes into consideration the condition of buildings prior to the tornado when assessing damage. Less than 5% of tornadoes that occur in Canada are rated as F3/EF3 or higher.

The only officially rated F5/EF5 tornado in Canada is the 2007 Elie Tornado, however Thomas P. Grazulis of The Tornado Project has unofficially rated the 1920 Alameda-Frobisher Tornado and the 1935 Benson Tornado as F5 (neither having any official intensity ratings due to their age).

The deadliest tornadoes in Canadian history were the 1912 Regina 'Cyclone' (at least 28), 1987 Edmonton 'Black Friday' Tornado (27), and the 1946 Windsor–Tecumseh Tornado (17).

Severe tornadoes

List of Severe Tornadoes in Canadian History[1] [2] [3]
DateTornadoProvinceF/EFFatalitiesDamage ($2023 CAD)Localities AffectedNotes
1829, Jun 21829 Guelph TornadoON- (likely F4+)?Very strong tornado, swept buildings away, likely F4 or F5[4]
1829, Aug 71829 Galt TornadoON-1~
1850, July 51850 Lake Scugog TornadoONF3MultipleLake Scugog, Sanford-Manchester-Enniskillen, ON[5]
1856, June 291856 Oxford TornadoONF34Golspie to Eastwood, ON[6]
1859, August 51859 Charlottetown TornadoPEI-2+Charlottetown, PEI[7]
1868, March 161868 Toronto TornadoONF31Toronto, ON[8]
1879, Aug 61879 Bouctouche TornadoNBF35–8$4,200,000Grand-Bouctouche, NBEasternmost fatal tornado in North American history
1880, May 311880 Lambton County TornadoONF30Lambton County, ON[9]
1881, June 281881 Millbrook TornadoONF22Millbrook, ON[10]
1884, May 151884 Elora-Mapleton TornadoONF40
1885, August 281885 Muskoka District TornadoON-2[11]
1888, Jun 61888 Cornwall TornadoON-3~
1888, Aug 161888 Salaberry-de-ValleyfieldON & QC-9–11South Glengarry, ONSalaberry-de-Valleyfield, QUStarted in Ontario, and later crossed the border into Quebec
1892, Jun 141892 St. Rose TornadoQC-6Montreal, QC
1892, July 101892 Douglas TornadoMB-1[12]
1892, August 81892 Belleville TornadoON-1[13]
1892, August 171892 O'Leary TornadoPEI-1[14]
1893, May 221893 Ontario & Quebec Tornado OutbreakON & QC-3+additional non-fatal tornadoes in Aurora, ON, Belleville, ON, Brantford, ON, Delhi, ON to Windham Centre, ON, and Montreal, QC [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]
1894, May 20 (or 27)1894 Huron County TornadoON-MultipleDescribed as a severe tornado that killed a considerable number of people [20]
1912, Jun 301912 Regina CycloneSKF4≥28$103,000,000Regina, SK
1915, Jun 251915 Redcliff TornadoABF42
1920, Jul 221920 Alameda-Frobisher TornadoSKF5 (estimated)4$1,400,000Alameda, SKFrobisher, SKNo official ratings, but was unofficially rated as F5 by Thomas P. Grazulis[21]
1922, Jun 221922 Southern Manitoba Tornado(es)MB-5-Portage la Prairie, MBOfficially recorded as just one tornado, but was thought to have been multiple
1935, Jul 11935 Benson TornadoSKF5 (estimated)1Benson, SKNo official ratings, but was unofficially rated as F5 by Thomas P. Grazulis
1944, Aug 91944 Kamsack TornadoSK-4Kamsack, SK
1946, Jun 171946 Windsor–Tecumseh TornadoONF417$163,000,000River Rouge, USA – Windsor, ON – Tecumseh, ONHigh-end F4, borderline F5[22]
1946, Jun 241946 Fort Frances TornadoONF3 0Crossed the border from Minnesota into Ontario
1953, May 211953 Sarnia TornadoONF47Crossed the border from Michigan into Ontario
1967, Apr 171967 Huron-Perth TornadoONF30~
1970, Aug 201970 Sudbury TornadoONF36$78,200,000+Greater Sudbury, ONNorth Bay, ONChalk River, ON
1974, Apr 31974 Windsor-Flat Rock TornadoONF39$3,040,000Flat Rock, MI – Windsor, ON
1977, July 181977 St. Malo TornadoMBF43St. Malo, MB
1978, Jun 191978 Morris-Ostenfeld TornadoMB-1$8,680,000Morris, MBTaché, MBAubigny, MBSte. Anne, MB
1979, Aug 71979 Woodstock-Stratford TornadoONF42$434,000,000Was the costliest tornado prior to the 1987 Edmonton tornado
1982, Jun 301982 Rocky Mountain House TornadoABF30$1,450,000Rocky Mountain House, AB
1985, May 311985 Barrie TornadoONF412$337,000,000A part of the 1985 Midwest Tornado Outbreak
1985, May 31ONF44A part of the 1985 Midwest Tornado Outbreak
1985, May 311985 Rice Lake TornadoONF30A part of the 1985 Midwest Tornado Outbreak – twin tornado with Alma Tornado
1985, May 311985 Alma-Hillsburgh TornadoONF30A part of the 1985 Midwest Tornado Outbreak – twin tornado with Rice Lake
1987, Jul 311987 Edmonton TornadoABF427$771,000,000Edmonton, ABVery high-end F4, missed the F5 rating by 1 mph
1993, Jul 291993 Holden TornadoABF30
1994, Jul 101994 Turtle Mountain TornadoMBF40$1,850,000Killarney-Turtle Mountain, MB
2000, Jul 142000 Pine Lake TornadoABF312$21,600,000Pine Lake, AB
2000, Jul 232000 Marwayne TornadoABF30
2007, Jun 222007 Elie TornadoMBF50$55,600,000Elie, MBCanada's first and only officially rated F5/EF5
2007, Jun 232007 Baldur TornadoMBF30Baldur, MB
2007, Jun 232007 Pipestone TornadoMBF30Baldur, MBOakville, MBPipestone, MBVery violent tornado that did not hit anything significant, could have been F5
2009, Aug 202009 Durham TornadoONF21Durham, ON
2010, Jun 292010 Raymond TornadoSKF30$18,000,000Kawacatoose Reserve 88, SK
2011, Aug 212011 Goderich TornadoONF31Goderich, ONCaused significant electrical outages to surrounding municipalities
2017, Jun 182017 Saint-Anne-du-LacQUEF30Sainte-Anne-du-Lac, QU[23]
2018, Aug 32018 Alonsa TornadoMBEF41$2,300,000Alonsa, MBEF5 damage observed, but building was deemed poor condition[24]
2018, Sep 212018 Ottawa TornadoONEF30$388,000,000Ottawa, ONHigh-end EF3, borderline EF4
2020, Aug 82020 Scarth TornadoMBEF32Scarth, MBHigh-end EF3, borderline EF4
2023, Jul 12023 Didsbury TornadoABEF40

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: A Tornado Scenario for Barrie, Ontario . 2023-11-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090225055137/http://www.iclr.org/pdf/Final%20Tornado%20Barrie%20case%20study%20paper%20March%202002.pdf . 2009-02-25 .
  2. Web site: Blog Posts . 2023-11-05 . www.uwo.ca . en.
  3. Web site: Canada . Public Safety . 2018-12-21 . The Canadian Disaster Database . 2023-11-05 . www.publicsafety.gc.ca.
  4. Web site: Staff . Advertiser . 2018-09-27 . Tornado partially destroyed infant town of Guelph in 1829 . 2023-11-05 . Wellington Advertiser . en-US.
  5. Lake Scugog, Sanford-Manchester-Enniskillen. July 5, 1850. Michael Newark Digital Tornado Archive.
  6. Golspie to Eastwood . Michael Newark Digital Tornado Archive . 29 June 1856 .
  7. Web site: Victoria Daily British Colonist Archives, Sep 28, 1859, p. 3 . 28 September 1859 .
  8. Toronto. March 16, 1868. Michael Newark Digital Tornado Archive.
  9. Florence . Michael Newark Digital Tornado Archive . 31 May 1880 .
  10. Web site: PDF.js viewer .
  11. https://www.newspapers.com/image/783676818/?terms=%22tornado%22%20or%20%22cyclone%22&match=1
  12. Web site: Page 02 .
  13. https://www.newspapers.com/image/732347678/?terms=%22tornado%22&match=1
  14. https://www.newspapers.com/image/479081717/?terms=cyclone&match=1
  15. Aurora . Michael Newark Digital Tornado Archive . 23 May 1893 .
  16. https://www.newspapers.com/image/775272065/?terms=%22tornado%22%20OR%20%22cyclone%22&match=1
  17. Web site: Page 02 .
  18. https://www.newspapers.com/image/478940049/?terms=tornado&match=1
  19. https://www.newspapers.com/image/774999840/?terms=%22tornado%22&match=1
  20. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/783333163/
  21. Book: Grazulis, Thomas P. . The Tornado: Nature's Ultimate Windstorm . The Tornado Project – St. Johnsbury . 2001 . 0-8061-3258-2 . 18.
  22. Web site: 2003-01-11 . Windsor Tornado – June 17, 1946 . 2023-11-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20030111062912/http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/canwarn/windsor-e.html . 2003-01-11 .
  23. Web site: ArcGIS Dashboards . 2024-06-06 . westernu.maps.arcgis.com.
  24. Stevenson . Sarah A. . Miller . Connell S. . Sills . David M. L. . Kopp . Gregory A. . Rhee . Daniel M. . Lombardo . Franklin T. . 2023-07-01 . Assessment of wind speeds along the damage path of the Alonsa, Manitoba EF4 tornado on 3 August 2018 . Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics . 238 . 105422 . 10.1016/j.jweia.2023.105422 . 0167-6105. free . 2023JWEIA.23805422S .