List_of_Fatal_and_Violent_Canadian_Tornadoes
This page lists all tornadoes that have occurred in Canada that have documented fatalities, or have a rating of F3/EF3 or higher in intensity.
Canada adopted the Enhanced Fujita scale on April 1, 2013, with the country using the Fujita scale before. Both scales measure how violent tornadoes are, measuring damage done by tornadoes to look at how fast the windspeeds would be inside of a tornado; however the Enhanced Fujita scale takes into consideration the condition of buildings prior to the tornado when assessing damage. Less than 5% of tornadoes that occur in Canada are rated as F3/EF3 or higher.
The only officially rated F5/EF5 tornado in Canada is the 2007 Elie Tornado, however Thomas P. Grazulis of The Tornado Project has unofficially rated the 1920 Alameda-Frobisher Tornado and the 1935 Benson Tornado as F5 (neither having any official intensity ratings due to their age).
The deadliest tornadoes in Canadian history were the 1912 Regina 'Cyclone' (at least 28), 1987 Edmonton 'Black Friday' Tornado (27), and the 1946 Windsor–Tecumseh Tornado (17).
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
More information Date, Tornado ...
| List of Severe Tornadoes in Canadian History[1][2][3] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Tornado | Province | F/EF | Fatalities | Damage ($2023 CAD) | Localities Affected | Notes |
| 1829, Jun 2 | 1829 Guelph Tornado | ON | - (likely F4+) | ? | – | Guelph, ON | Very strong tornado, swept buildings away, likely F4 or F5[4] |
| 1829, Aug 7 | 1829 Galt Tornado | ON | - | 1~ | – | Galt (now a part of Cambridge, ON) | |
| 1850, July 5 | 1850 Lake Scugog Tornado | ON | F3 | Multiple | Lake Scugog, Sanford-Manchester-Enniskillen, ON | [5] | |
| 1856, June 29 | 1856 Oxford Tornado | ON | F3 | 4 | Golspie to Eastwood, ON | [6] | |
| 1859, August 5 | 1859 Charlottetown Tornado | PEI | - | 2+ | Charlottetown, PEI | [7] | |
| 1868, March 16 | 1868 Toronto Tornado | ON | F3 | 1 | Toronto, ON | [8] | |
| 1879, Aug 6 | 1879 Bouctouche Tornado | NB | F3 | 5–8 | $4,200,000 | Grand-Bouctouche, NB | Easternmost fatal tornado in North American history |
| 1880, May 31 | 1880 Lambton County Tornado | ON | F3 | 0 | Lambton County, ON | [9] | |
| 1881, June 28 | 1881 Millbrook Tornado | ON | F2 | 2 | Millbrook, ON | [10] | |
| 1884, May 15 | 1884 Elora-Mapleton Tornado | ON | F4 | 0 | – | Elora, ON – Mapleton, ON | |
| 1885, August 28 | 1885 Muskoka District Tornado | ON | - | 2 | – | Skeleton Lake, ON | [11] |
| 1888, Jun 6 | 1888 Cornwall Tornado | ON | - | 3~ | – | Cornwall, ON | |
| 1888, Aug 16 | 1888 Salaberry-de-Valleyfield | ON & QC | - | 9–11 | – | South Glengarry, ON – Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, QU | Started in Ontario, and later crossed the border into Quebec |
| 1892, Jun 14 | 1892 St. Rose Tornado | QC | - | 6 | – | Montreal, QC | |
| 1892, July 10 | 1892 Douglas Tornado | MB | - | 1 | – | Douglas, MB | [12] |
| 1892, August 8 | 1892 Belleville Tornado | ON | - | 1 | – | 10 km south of Belleville, ON | [13] |
| 1892, August 17 | 1892 O'Leary Tornado | PEI | - | 1 | – | O'Leary, PEI | [14] |
| 1893, May 22 | 1893 Ontario & Quebec Tornado Outbreak | ON & QC | - | 3+ | – | Tillsonburg, ON, Perth, ON, Ottawa, ON | additional non-fatal tornadoes in Aurora, ON, Belleville, ON, Brantford, ON, Delhi, ON to Windham Centre, ON, and Montreal, QC [15][16][17][18][19] |
| 1912, Jun 30 | 1912 Regina Cyclone | SK | F4 | ≥28 | $103,000,000 | Regina, SK | |
| 1915, Jun 25 | 1915 Redcliff Tornado | AB | F4 | 2 | – | Redcliff, AB | |
| 1920, Jul 22 | 1920 Alameda-Frobisher Tornado | SK | F5 (estimated) | 4 | $1,400,000 | Alameda, SK – Frobisher, SK | No official ratings, but was unofficially rated as F5 by Thomas P. Grazulis[20] |
| 1922, Jun 22 | 1922 Southern Manitoba Tornado(es) | MB | - | 5 | - | Portage la Prairie, MB | Officially recorded as just one tornado, but was thought to have been multiple |
| 1935, Jul 1 | 1935 Benson Tornado | SK | F5 (estimated) | 1 | – | Benson, SK | No official ratings, but was unofficially rated as F5 by Thomas P. Grazulis[20] |
| 1944, Aug 9 | 1944 Kamsack Tornado | SK | - | 4 | – | Kamsack, SK | |
| 1946, Jun 17 | 1946 Windsor–Tecumseh Tornado | ON | F4 | 17 | $163,000,000 | River Rouge, USA – Windsor, ON – Tecumseh, ON | High-end F4, borderline F5[21] |
| 1946, Jun 24 | 1946 Fort Frances Tornado | ON | F3 | 0 | – | International Falls, USA – Fort Frances, ON – Rainy River, ON | Crossed the border from Minnesota into Ontario |
| 1953, May 21 | 1953 Sarnia Tornado | ON | F4 | 7 | – | Port Huron, USA – Sarnia, ON | Crossed the border from Michigan into Ontario |
| 1967, Apr 17 | 1967 Huron-Perth Tornado | ON | F3 | 0~ | – | Huron County, ON – Perth County, ON – St. Jacobs, ON | |
| 1970, Aug 20 | 1970 Sudbury Tornado | ON | F3 | 6 | $78,200,000+ | Greater Sudbury, ON – North Bay, ON – Chalk River, ON | |
| 1974, Apr 3 | 1974 Windsor-Flat Rock Tornado | ON | F3 | 9 | $3,040,000 | Flat Rock, MI – Windsor, ON | |
| 1977, July 18 | 1977 St. Malo Tornado | MB | F4 | 3 | – | St. Malo, MB | |
| 1978, Jun 19 | 1978 Morris-Ostenfeld Tornado | MB | - | 1 | $8,680,000 | Morris, MB – Taché, MB – Aubigny, MB – Ste. Anne, MB | |
| 1979, Aug 7 | 1979 Woodstock-Stratford Tornado | ON | F4 | 2 | $434,000,000 | Woodstock, ON – Stratford, ON | Was the costliest tornado prior to the 1987 Edmonton tornado |
| 1982, Jun 30 | 1982 Rocky Mountain House Tornado | AB | F3 | 0 | $1,450,000 | Rocky Mountain House, AB | |
| 1985, May 31 | 1985 Barrie Tornado | ON | F4 | 12 | $337,000,000 | Hopeville, ON – Barrie, ON | A part of the 1985 Midwest Tornado Outbreak |
| 1985, May 31 | 1985 Grand Valley-Tottenham Tornado | ON | F4 | 4 | – | Grand Valley, ON – Orangeville, ON – Tottenham, ON | A part of the 1985 Midwest Tornado Outbreak |
| 1985, May 31 | 1985 Rice Lake Tornado | ON | F3 | 0 | – | Rice Lake, ON – Erin, ON | A part of the 1985 Midwest Tornado Outbreak – twin tornado with Alma Tornado |
| 1985, May 31 | 1985 Alma-Hillsburgh Tornado | ON | F3 | 0 | – | Alma, ON – Rice Lake, ON – Erin, ON | A part of the 1985 Midwest Tornado Outbreak – twin tornado with Rice Lake |
| 1987, Jul 31 | 1987 Edmonton Tornado | AB | F4 | 27 | $771,000,000 | Edmonton, AB | Very high-end F4, missed the F5 rating by only a few mph |
| 1993, Jul 29 | 1993 Holden Tornado | AB | F3 | 0 | – | Holden, AB | |
| 1994, Jul 10 | 1994 Turtle Mountain Tornado | MB | F4 | 0 | $1,850,000 | Killarney-Turtle Mountain, MB | |
| 2000, Jul 14 | 2000 Pine Lake Tornado | AB | F3 | 12 | $21,600,000 | Pine Lake, AB | |
| 2000, Jul 23 | 2000 Marwayne Tornado | AB | F3 | 0 | – | Marwayne, AB | |
| 2007, Jun 22 | 2007 Elie Tornado | MB | F5 | 0 | $55,600,000 | Elie, MB | Canada's first and only officially rated F5/EF5 |
| 2007, Jun 23 | 2007 Baldur Tornado | MB | F3 | 0 | – | Baldur, MB | |
| 2007, Jun 23 | 2007 Pipestone Tornado | MB | F3 | 0 | – | Baldur, MB – Oakville, MB – Pipestone, MB | Very violent tornado that did not hit anything significant, could have been F5 |
| 2009, Aug 20 | 2009 Durham Tornado | ON | F2 | 1 | – | Durham, ON | |
| 2010, Jun 29 | 2010 Raymond Tornado | SK | F3 | 0 | $18,000,000 | Kawacatoose Reserve 88, SK | |
| 2011, Aug 21 | 2011 Goderich Tornado | ON | F3 | 1 | $149,000,000 | Goderich, ON | Caused significant electrical outages to surrounding municipalities |
| 2018, Aug 3 | 2018 Alonsa Tornado | MB | EF4 | 1 | $2,300,000 | Alonsa, MB | EF5 damage observed, but building was deemed poor condition[22] |
| 2018, Sep 21 | 2018 Ottawa Tornado | ON | EF3 | 0 | $388,000,000 | Ottawa, ON | High-end EF3, borderline EF4 |
| 2020, Aug 8 | 2020 Scarth Tornado | MB | EF3 | 2 | – | Scarth, MB | |
| 2023, Jul 1 | 2023 Didsbury Tornado | AB | EF4 | 0 | – | Didsbury, AB | |
Close
- "A Tornado Scenario for Barrie, Ontario" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-02-25. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
- "Blog Posts". www.uwo.ca. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
- Canada, Public Safety (2018-12-21). "The Canadian Disaster Database". www.publicsafety.gc.ca. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
- Staff, Advertiser (2018-09-27). "Tornado partially destroyed infant town of Guelph in 1829". Wellington Advertiser. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
- "Lake Scugog, Sanford-Manchester-Enniskillen". Michael Newark Digital Tornado Archive. July 5, 1850.
- Grazulis, Thomas P. (2001). The Tornado: Nature's Ultimate Windstorm. The Tornado Project – St. Johnsbury. p. 18. ISBN 0-8061-3258-2.
- "Windsor Tornado – June 17, 1946". 2003-01-11. Archived from the original on 2003-01-11. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
- Stevenson, Sarah A.; Miller, Connell S.; Sills, David M. L.; Kopp, Gregory A.; Rhee, Daniel M.; Lombardo, Franklin T. (2023-07-01). "Assessment of wind speeds along the damage path of the Alonsa, Manitoba EF4 tornado on 3 August 2018". Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics. 238: 105422. doi:10.1016/j.jweia.2023.105422. ISSN 0167-6105.