WIIKWEMKOONG—It appears Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory was the only location on Manitoulin Island affected by what had been a tornado watch on Thursday, July 24. It has not yet been determined by the Northern Tornadoes Project if the weather event was a tornado, microburst, downburst or damaging winds on Thursday, July 24.
“It was a tornado watch, based on the radar we use,” said Steve Flisfeder, a regional meteorologist with Environment Canada and Climate Change (ECCC). “What we were seeing on the radar was a tornado watch, and at the very least very strong winds. But we’ve haven’t received information on damage so far for Kaboni.”
During the afternoon of July 24, cell phones, radio signals and television stations lit up with repeated warnings from Environment Canada about a tornado watch for Manitoulin, urging people to take shelter and be wary of damaging winds should a tornado occur.
The Expositor had called the Wiikwemkoong band office on Friday, and was told by a band office employee, “Kaboni did get hit, with two large trees being brought down.” Fortunately, no one was injured.
A member of The Expositor staff visited Kaboni right after the storm went through and spotted at least eight trees on a stretch of Kaboni Road with the tops sheared off.
Environment Canada had reported on July 24 at 2:38 pm, that meteorologists were tracking a severe thunderstorm that was possible producing a tornado. Damaging winds, large hail and locally intense rainfall are also possible. “A severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado is located near Kaboni, moving at 70 kilometres per hour. Locations impacted include Kaboni.”
Mr. Flisfeder said what was described as damage to the trees in Kaboni are consistent with a possible tornado but requested the photographs to confirm this. He said the tornado watch warnings included water areas for Manitoulin extending east of Georgian Bay including the North Channels.
The Expositor did forward the photographs to ECCC, which forwarded them to the Northern Tornadoes Project. Dr. David Sills replied through email on Monday explaining in part, “There was quite a bit of storm damage to investigate over the last several days and this area is on our list to take a closer look at. Without a more thorough investigation it’s not possible for us to know if the damage may have been associated with a microburst or a tornado.”
“We’ll likely have to wait until we review high-resolution satellite imagery to have a better idea of what happened,” added Dr. Sills.
