Wicked storms that tore through southwestern Ontario on Sunday did spawn at least four tornadoes, a team of local experts has confirmed.
Investigators with Western University's Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) verified on Monday an EF0 with a preliminary length of 9.3 kilometres and maximum winds of 125 km/h ripped through the Belmont-area. A slightly stronger EF1 with a preliminary length of 2.4 kilometres and maximum winds of 135 km/h hit north of Lucan.
The team made the determination after spending the day examining the destruction path in those two areas.
A third twister from the Sunday storms in Beachville was confirmed by the team Tuesday afternoon.
"The NTP survey team assessed EF1 wind damage to trees (150 km/h max winds), prelim length of 2.8 km / width of 100 m. A narrow path is visible in drone imagery," Dr. David Sills, executive director of the Northern Tornadoes Project, tweeted.
Another EF1 was also confirmed by the investigation team on Tuesday afternoon, this one north of Stratford in Gads Hill. This twister had maximum winds of 150 km/h with a length of 4.2 kilometres and width of 400 metres.
The four tornadoes downed trees, ripped shingles off of roofs, damaged grain bins and farm buildings, and tossed a camper trailer into the side of a house.
An EF0 and EF1 are at the lower end of the Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale with winds topping out at 130 km/h and 175 km/h.
Environment Canada issued tornado warnings for several regions including Middlesex County, Strathroy, Komoka, and Parkhill around 11 a.m. Sunday. The destructive line of storms that rolled through became so intense there were reports of damaging winds, flooding and near-zero visibility in torrential downpours. A waterspout spotted during the storm offshore from Bright's Grove over Lake Huron has also been confirmed by the NTP assessment team. With no evidence of any damage associated with the waterspout, it has been given a rating of EF0-Default.
The four newly confirmed tornadoes add to the 14 others previously confirmed across the province this year. A similar storm system to what was seen on Sunday also led to tornadoes touching down in Belmont and in Glencoe on June 10.
The NTP investigation team will be in the Thedford-area on Wednesday assessing damage from Sunday's storm.
Update 2 - @westernuNTP has confirmed a tornado in Beachville, near Woodstock, ON, from the July 19th storms. The NTP survey team assessed EF1 wind damage to trees (150 km/h max winds), prelim length of 2.8 km / width of 100 m. A narrow path is visible in drone imagery. #onstorm pic.twitter.com/BGK1IRut5E
— Dave Sills (@dave_sills) July 21, 2020