It is now official although most people already knew!
A tornado touched down at Girouxville June 15. It was one of six that occurred in Alberta June 15, reports Alberta Storm Watch on its Facebook page June 22.
The determination was made after extensive damage surveys and analysis, says the Northern Tornadoes Project.
Tornados are ranked based on the Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale, based on wind speed. The Girouxville tornado was the strongest and rated an EF2. It developed to the west of Girouxville and tracked into the village along its 11.1-km path. Homes and small buildings were damaged in the community and a nearby farm was damaged. Based on the damage, it’s estimated the tornado had maximum wind speeds of 190 km/h. It is the strongest tornado to hit the region since the tornado that hit Grimshaw in 2003.
Four other tornadoes have been rated at EF0. They occurred to the northwest of Hines Creek, east of Nampa (near Harmon Valley), south of Falher, and south of McLennan. The first three tornadoes caused some tree damage and it is estimated they had maximum wind speeds of 115km/h. The McLennan tornado did not cause any damage so it was given an EF0 rating as a default.
An EF1 tornado was tracked southeastward from north of Enilda into the Sucker Creek First Nation area. It had estimated maximum wind speeds of 150km/h that damaged trees, as well as a fence and recreational trailer, along its 7.6-km track.
The six tornadoes, along with three that occurred June 16, brings the total number of tornadoes for Alberta this year up to 19.
No one was injured in any of the six tornados that touched down. Most touched down in largely unpopulated regions of Alberta.
Chris Clegg
South Peace News