People reported seeing four tornadoes touch ground - near Wyoming, Kettle Point, Parkhill and Lucknow - but those reports had not been confirmed by Environment Canada. There were no confirmed reports of damage or injuries but the high winds and dark skies left residents everywhere in the region wary, even scared, in Goderich, where a category F3 tornado tore up that town historic centre Sunday, injuring many and killing one. "It was pretty tense," Goderich mayor Deb Shewfelt said. One terrified Goderich resident said he fled to his basement around 7 p.m., fearing another twister.
There were many additional reports of funnel clouds and areas of rotation near Ilderton and Granton moving toward St. Marys, Thorndale, Woodstock. Golf-ball sized hail fell and high wind swept through the region, part of a large storm front that stretch as far south as Missouri and Indiana. The storm came three days after a deadly twister ripped through Goderich. With lots of volunteers working outside cleaning up Goderich, the town set up an emergency shelter in the basement of the Maitland Recreation Centre to accommodate the workers in case another tornado struck.
"It was not used, but it was ready," Shewfelt said. The Sunday tornado struck just minutes after an official warning and Wednesday Environment Canada was much quicker to issue alerts, posting a tornado watch at 11 a.m. and upgrading that to a warning just after 6:30 p.m.. The "watch" designation indicates no tornado has been sighted but that a major storm is brewing. A "warning" is an urgent message that severe weather is either occurring or will soon occur. The Environment Canada warnings sent the airwaves and Twitterverse chattering that Goderich residents had far less notification, just 12 minutes, between the time of tornado warning and landfall.
At least one tweeted that the watch made her feel "queasy" in light of Sunday's storm. Environment Canada's Geoff Coulson said the Goderich recent history played a role in the early notification but it was clear as early as Tuesday night that the weather would be unstable enough that it could cause problems. "I think the (tornado) watch would have been issued anyhow," even without the Goderich tornado, Coulson said. Environment Canada brought in extra staff to monitor developments, Coulson said. He said the intent of early notification is not to scare residents but to prepare them with "a tap on the shoulder" to make sure they were near safe shelter.
The land-based alert took place at about the same time mariners on Lake Huron received a strong-wind warning, tornado watch and squall watch.
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