Environment Canada officials are investigating the possibility of a tornado that reportedly touched down southeast of Goderich at around 10pm.
Storm chaser Dave Patrick posted an image (shown above) which appears to show a funnel cloud. Patrick says the picture was taken southeast of Goderich.
Geoff Coulson is a Warning Preparedness Meteorologist at Environment Canada
He says ,"We did see the picture that was taken last night by someone in the area that looked like it could have been a tornado in and around the Goderich area , but we have been in contact with the emergency management coordinator for the town of Goderich. She's not aware of any damage in the area.'
Numerous fast-moving thunderstorms prompted the national weather service to issue several tornado and thunderstorm warnings for parts of midwestern Ontario throughout the night.
No major damage has been reported.
Coulson says input from residents in the area would help investigators.
He says, "I'd encourage any of the listeners if they did have any notable damage on their properties from the storms last night, they can provide an account of the damage, maybe some pictures to Environment Canada at our email adress storm.ontario@ec.gc.ca."
Goderich Fire told CKNX News they were not aware of any injuries regarding the possible tornado.
Officials at the national weather service told CKNX News they had difficulty tracking the storm due to the limited visibility of nightfall.
Meantime, St. Marys-native Brock Shute says he was travelling on Highway 8 just north of Holmesville when he noticed a large, dark, rotating cloud.
"All of a sudden it took off and it spun around on top of us and it got windy just like that,” Shute tells CKNX News, “My girlfriend was driving at the time and I said to her ‘stop stop stop’, and she said she was trying to, but it [the wind] was pushing her. The windshield wipers were flapping on the windshield, I thought they were gonna get torn off.”
Shute, who plays for the Fullarton A’s of the Huron County Fastball League, was returning home from a cancelled baseball game.
“I couldn’t tell if it actually formed into a tornado and touched down or what,” Shute said “It didn’t last very long because we were through it pretty quick. It was moving directly eastwards.”
Goderich Fire officials say they were not aware of any injuries related to the possible touchdown as of 11:10pm Monday.
https://twitter.com/martythompson_/status/613158841522462721
Goderich Township-based Twitter user @DonDWise tweeted this image at 10:32pm
https://twitter.com/DonDwise/status/613172683010760704
CKNX Reporter Ryan Brandt was at a farm in Holmesville where heavy winds damages trees, fences and a pickup truck on the property.
At a farm on Hwy8 near Holmesville. Family says winds ripped up some trees on the property and damaged fence + truck pic.twitter.com/1IPCAyr2PT
— Ryan Brandt (@Ryan_Brandt) June 23, 2015
(Photo courtesy of Deb Stephenson)
Monday's storms also caused damage in Michigan, where officials confirmed an EF1 tornado touched down northwest of Lansing.
Closer to home, a lightning strike caused damage to a house in Port Elgin just after 9pm.
With files from Kirk Dickson