Storm watchers investigating possible tornado touchdown near Fergus

A Weather Network storm hunter said damage corresponds with a 'tornado debris signature' seen on radar

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1 / 1 Two trees were snapped in half at Highland Park, falling onto the fence at the baseball diamond.Keegan Kozolanka/EloraFergusToday

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FERGUS – Weather researchers are in Fergus to determine if a weak tornado touched down during Sunday night’s storm.

Environment Canada issued a tornado warning for the Caledon area at 10:56 p.m. Sunday but residents in Fergus reported damage and power outages overnight.

In one area of Fergus near Highland Park, south of the Grand River, many large tree branches were down, debris was scattered on the sidewalks and street and some had reported fences coming down.

Mark Robinson, a Guelph-based storm hunter and meteorologist for The Weather Network, said in a phone interview he found some damage that corresponds with where they saw a “tornado debris signature” in the radar as the storm system went through the area.

“There’s definitely signs that it might have been a tornado but we have to assess and it takes a little while to do that,” Robinson said.

Northern Tornado Project (NTP) executive director David Sills said in an email there is no confirmation of a tornado but it “does seem likely given the radar signatures and the reports of damage from the area.”

Sills said NTP will be in Fergus to start a damage investigation and Robinson was heading to meet them there.

“The team will be looking for evidence of a narrow path of damage, trees down in a pattern that converges towards the centre of the track and the intensity of damage so we can assign a rating,” Sills said.

Robinson said there were confirmed winds around 80 km/hr but heard anecdotally from people with home weather stations of 100 km/hr plus but stressed this isn’t necessarily reliable.

According to The Weather Network, only four November tornadoes have been recorded in Ontario including in Hamilton in 2005, Charleville in 2013, Georgetown in 2020 and Sharon in 2021.

“It’s not unprecedented to have tornadoes late in the year but it is unusual,” Robinson said, noting the season for tornadoes may be getting longer in Ontario.