Tornado tore through garage, tossed bale stacker 200 m in southern Alberta
Wind speeds reached up to 175 km/h, say meteorologists in preliminary report
A tornado destroyed a garage, tossed a bale stacker about 200 metres and sent a large tree branch through the wall of a house in southern Alberta on Thursday afternoon, Environment Canada said Friday.
The tornado reached speeds of up to 175 km/h, the agency said.
The tornado was first spotted around 5:20 p.m. It was created by a strong low pressure system that moved across Alberta bringing severe thunderstorms to much of the province, according to a preliminary report by Environment Canada meteorologists.
Severe hail as large as 3.5 cm in diameter was reported east of Carmangay and in Calgary, while hailstones the size of quarters — about 2.5 cm — were reported north of Blackie.
Anyone with photos, videos or information about the freak weather event is asked to email abstorm@canada.ca or call 1-800-239-0484.
Here is a summary of the weather events that happened July 18 in Alberta <a href="https://t.co/0IFyijyv5I">https://t.co/0IFyijyv5I</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/abstorm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#abstorm</a> <a href="https://t.co/IRESumsKUn">pic.twitter.com/IRESumsKUn</a>
—@ECCCWeatherAB