Elie, Manitoba Tornado
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| Elie, Manitoba Tornado | |
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| Date of tornado: | June 22, 2007 |
| Time: | 6:20 pm CDT |
| Rating of tornado: | F5 tornado |
| Damages: | $1 million |
| Fatalities: | 0 |
| Area affected: | Elie, Manitoba |
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The Elie, Manitoba Tornado was an F5[1][2] tornado that struck the town of Elie, Manitoba (40 kilometres (25 mi) west of Winnipeg) on On June 22, 2007. While several houses were leveled, no one was injured or killed by the tornado.[3]
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[edit] Tornado track
The tornado touched down north of the Trans-Canada Highway around 6:30 pm CDT (2330 UTC) and slowly moved southeast where it picked up a tractor-trailer before it headed south and severely damaged the town's flour mill causing over $1 million in damage. After hitting the flour mill it headed southeast towards Elie, where it destroyed four houses, flipped over cars, and even tossed one homeowner's Chrysler Fifth Avenue onto their neighbour's roof.[4] The tornado lingered over the same area of Elie for approximately four minutes before it cut sharply to the south and rapidly dissipated. The tornado traveled about 6 km (3.7 miles) and was 300 m (330 yds) wide at its widest during its 40 minute lifespan. The tornado repeatedly struck essentially the same area of town, destroying most of the structures and vehicles in the area.
If the tornado had continued along its southeast track, it would have hit the main part of town. At the same time as the Elie tornado, another tornado was touching down close to nearby Oakville. Two tornadoes not far from each other at the same time was a rare occurrence for the people watching the events unfold that evening. There were reports of 8 touchdowns in Manitoba during that day. The people in Elie were prepared and took the necessary precautions, during this situation.
The following day, Environment Canada sent out a storm damage survey team to assess the damage caused by the tornado. On September 18, 2007, the tornado was upgraded to F5 on the Fujita Scale from the original F4, as winds were determined to be between 420 km/h and 515 km/h (261 and 318 mph), based on video analysis of the tornado and reassessment of the damage[2]. This was the first tornado in Canada to be officially rated as such, making it the strongest confirmed tornado in Canadian history, and only the second F5 tornado since 1999, (the other being in Greensburg, Kansas on May 4, 2007). Canada has not adopted the Enhanced Fujita Scale yet; if used, the equivalent EF5 rating would have winds in excess of 200 mph (320 km/h).
[edit] Weather conditions prior to the tornado
The synoptic situation on June 22 was conducive to a major severe weather event in southern Manitoba. A low pressure system came in from Saskatchewan through the day, and then moved over southern Manitoba throughout the evening. A warm front was positioned north of Elie for much of the day with a trailing cold front residing west of Elie near the Lake Manitoba basin southwest through southeast Saskatchewan. A lake breeze boundary was also present south of Lake Manitoba.
Very warm air was situated over Southern Manitoba that day as temperatures climbed into the high 20s°C (low 80s°F). The humidity was also uncomfortably high, with dewpoints ranging from 18-22°C (65-72°F). Directional and speed shear were present as well as high helicity values. These conditions were favourable for supercells, which are thunderstorms with rotating updrafts, and they developed within the warm sector located in the Red River Valley and areas farther west. The situation was exacerbated by the presence of the lake breeze boundary because the atmosphere was capped through much of the day with little in the way of a trigger. This boundary provided the focus for storms to develop rapidly and become severe, given the high instability present.
