Tuesday’s damaging winds equivalent to an EF1 tornado according to Environment Canada

Aug 7, 2019 | 11:46 AM

BARNWELL, AB – Environment Canada says Tuesday night’s destructive storm formed in the Foothills northwest of Calgary, then tracked hundreds of kilometres southeast until it savagely hit the Vulcan and Taber areas.

Meteorologist Kyle Fougere says 146 km/hr wind gusts were recorded in Barnwell, while in the Taber area, hail was a significant factor.

“There was loonie sized hail in Barnwell and up to golf ball sized hail in Taber as the storm moved through. So, with that storm there was significant damage from mostly the wind. Damage to crops, to trees, farm equipment and even farm outbuildings.”

And it was not just an intense thunderstorm, but a fast moving one he adds – travelling between 70 and 80 km/ hr.

“There were no reports of tornados…it does look like it was straight flow winds, or what we call outflow winds…you also have cold air that hits the ground and spreads out. “

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Those conditions could have created severe microbursts in the Barnwell area that caused a significant amount of damage. According to the Enhanced Fujita scale (EF), the damage was the equivalent of an EF 1 rating.

“We are still in our severe weather season,” says Fougere. “Typically, about the middle of August we start to see the number of severe thunderstorms start to trail off…so we’re still in severe thunderstorm season.”

That said, there are no large-scale storms in the forecast for the next few days, as it cools off for the weekend. He adds that it’s hard to see so much crop damage occur so quickly, especially when it’s getting close to harvest season.

by Lara Fominoff