Tornado sighting prompts alert northeast of Calgary
A tornado was spotted near Beiseker on Sunday afternoon, prompting a short tornado alert.
Around 4:20 p.m., a tornado was observed 15 kilometres southeast of Beiseker, which is a little more than 70 kilometres northeast of Calgary, and a warning was issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Calgary and area were under a severe thunderstorm watch at the time, as well.
Environment Canada said online in a weather summary that it received multiple reports, photos and videos of the tornado, including a small debris cloud seen at its base. By 6:30 p.m., it still hadn’t received reports of damage. The tornado was given a preliminary rating of the lowest level of intensity.
The emergency alert was issued for Wheatland County and Rocky View County, where wind warnings were also in effect.
Within minutes, people in the area posted photos of funnel clouds on social media. Alberta storm chasers were also quick to share pictures, some of whom had been in the area as the first large storm of the season swept across the southern part of the province. Video of a funnel cloud that touched down showed the tornado was largely sweeping across empty fields.
Storm watchers had already been given a thunder-and-lightning show early Sunday morning, when a wild weather system moved over Calgary just after 3 a.m.
As the rain came down late Sunday afternoon, Global weather expert Paul Dunphy noted his rain gauge had collected 11 mm of rain by 5:30 p.m. But on the plus side, he joked on Twitter, “At least my lawn is green.”
Much of the province remained under severe wind warnings and severe thunderstorm watches Sunday night, according to Environment Canada.
Before last year’s abnormally high number of tornadoes, Alberta’s 30-year average was 12 tornadoes per year.
Tornado warnings are issued when imminent or occurring thunderstorms are likely to produce or are producing tornadoes.