| Pine Lake tornado | |
| Formed: | July 14, 2000 7:00 p.m. MDT |
| Basin: | atl |
| Winds: | 200mph |
| Fujita-Scale: | F3 |
| Deaths: | 12 |
| Injuries: | 100+ |
| Damages: | $13 million (2000 USD) ($ in dollars) |
| Affected: | Green Acres Campground, Alberta, Canada |
| Season: | tornado outbreaks of 2000 |
The Pine Lake tornado was a deadly tornado in central Alberta which occurred on Friday, July 14, 2000, and struck a campground and a trailer park. Twelve people were killed, making it the first deadly tornado in Canada since 1987, when an F4 tornado killed 27 people in Edmonton, Alberta and injured 300+.[1]
On July 14, 2000, at approximately 7 PM, an F3 tornado tore through the Green Acres Campground at Pine Lake in central Alberta, killing 12 people and critically injuring more than 100 others. Pine Lake is a recreational area approximately 25km (16miles) southeast of Red Deer, Alberta and 150km (90miles) northeast of the city of Calgary. The tornado formed out of a severe thunderstorm which formed on the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies and moved rapidly eastward, encountering a narrow band of low-level moisture that caused it to develop into a supercell thunderstorm. It touched down about 5km (03miles) west of the campground and was on the ground for approximately 20km (10miles).
Damage occurred in a swath 800mto1500mm (2,600feetto4,900feetm) wide. The heaviest damage occurred in a 500m (1,600feet) central corridor. Damage assessment suggests that winds within the central corridor reached 300km/h. In addition, Weather Watchers reported hail as large as baseballs.
An average of 16 tornadoes occur in Alberta every year, and an average of 41 tornadoes occur each year in the Prairie Provinces. The highest death toll due to a single tornado in Alberta occurred on July 31, 1987, colloquially referred to as Black Friday. Canada ranks second in the world for tornado occurrences after the United States.