2006 Southern Ontario Storms

2006 THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY:
Colour code: GREEN = weak , YELLOW = under tstorm watch, RED = severe, RED with "T" = under tornado warning
"Warning" = Severe thunderstorm issued

2006 Thunderstorm Activity (St. Catharines)

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

WARNING

WARNING
Tor. Watch

WARNING

Date	Time	Tops (ft)	Description
Dec.1	14:00	?	Light to moderate thunderstorm as warm front pushed through.
Oct.12	00:15	25,000	Light thunder/lightning/rain as warm from pushed through from the SSW.
Oct.11	06:30	30,000	Light thunder/lightning, rain heavy at times. Moderate winds.
Oct.04	11:00	35,000	Light rain, thunder.
Oct.04	07:00	35,000	Gigantic front pushed through across all of southern Ontario. Very frequent lightning including many close instantaneous flash/boom strikes. Moderate to heavy rain at times. Wind very gusty while front approached.
Aug.02	22:30	45,000	Massive system swept over southern Ontario. Tornado outbreak (see tornado stats below on this page) Impressive lightning show here in St. Catharines.
Jul.25	15:00	35,000	Storm started fairly organized with lots of low-level rotation and lift. Light rain and winds, light visible lightning and light thunder.
Jul.23	15:30	?	Warning issued for this storm. I was out of town while it happened.
Jul.20	17:46	35,000	This system was strong a couple hours earlier but gave only light right and thunder when it arrived.
Jul.15	01:30	35,000	Very hot and humid air mass over the region the last couple days as a small cold front came through overnight. Moderate lightning/rain, light wind.
Jul.10	15:30	40,000	Very strong rotating storm system circulating around most of southern Ontario spawning various vicious cells. I was caught in one in Hamilton while on Centennial Parkway going towards the QEW where police had blocked off a lane of that road because a manhole cover had poppled off due to excessive rain. Very strong winds and lightning, torrential downpours in Hamilton. Light rain / thunder in north end St. Catharines. This tornadic system produced multiple tornados in other areas of the province today.
Jul.10	04:00	40,000	Moderate rain and lightning, light winds.
Jul.02	21:15	40,000	Localized cell, torrential downpours, moderate wind, strong photogenic lightning.
Jun.30	14:00	?	Severe storm on the Toronto side of the lake but had weakened considerably by the time it reached St. Catharines.
Jun.29	11:50	30,000	Thunder, light rain, no wind.
Jun.19	16:10	40,000	Weak storm, rumbling thunder, light rain.
Jun.09	00:00	30,000	Weak thunderstorm
May.17	15:30	30,000	Moderate thunder, localized rotation amongst scud clouds.
Apr.12	18:45	30,000	Rain heavy at times, rumbling thunder, light winds, no visible lightning.
Apr.03	14:40	30,000	Moderate storm. Moderate to strong rain, weak lightning, constant thunder. Severe thunderstorm watch in effect.
Mar.13
	15:30	25,000	Weak storm from same system.
	07:00	25,000	Weak storm from severe system in the US. Moderate rain/lightning/thunder.
Mar.12	05:40	25,000	2 weak storms, weak lightning/thunder.
Feb.17	00:15	25,000	Weak, moderate rain, gusty winds, rumbling thunder.

2006 Ontario Tornado Listing (most recent to oldest):

SEP.06/06 (15:15-1600), F0, Essex County area - Brief touchdown in the county road 41 area between county road 20 and 50, about 5kms southeast of Malden Centre.
AUG.02/06 (20:50), F2, Bancroft (15km east) - damage path sparse/narrow 500m wide by 10km long. Numerous trees down, one house with entire roof off and 2 walls removed. 2 barns destroyed.
AUG.02/06 (19:20), F1, West Guilford (northwest of Haliburton) - damage path 500m wide, 12km long, numerous trees down, roofs partially destroyed, hydro poles down. "Further down Highway 28, about 20 kilometres east of Bancroft, Gregoire confirmed an F2 tornado with winds reaching 200 km/h. In this case, there was a lot of structural damage. There were two barns destroyed and one house... " [from the Peterborough Examiner]
AUG.02/06 (20:30), F2, Combermere (south of Barry's Bay) - heavy damage path 300m wide and 3km long, total damage path extending over 10km. Extensive damage to camping resort and town. Numerous trees down. Dozens of cars/RVs destroyed. "...targeted campgrounds and caused the most damage. Theres dozens of campers that were crushed, dozens of cars. Theres some incredible stories coming form this place, and the fact that there was no fatalities, and nobody was hurt, is incredible, Gregoire said. " [from Peterborough Examiner]
AUG.02/06 (20:05), F1, Anstruther Lake (west of Apsley) - damage path 150m wide by 2km long, numerous trees down.
AUG.02/06 (20:00), F0, Catchacoma (south of Gooderham) - sparse damage path 150m wide by 7km long, trees down.
AUG.02/06 (19:40), F1, Minden Hills (northeast of Minden) - intermittent damage 100m wide by 17km long. Roofs partially destroyed, large marina shed destroyed.
AUG.02/06 (19:40), F1, Drag Lake (east of Haliburton) - damage path continuous 500m wide by 10km long. Trees down, many hydro lines down, damage to cottages by fallen trees.
AUG.02/06 (19:25), F0, Uffington (northeast of Gravenhurst) - damage path 50m wide by 250m long. Trees down.
AUG.02/06 (????), F1, Apsley (Peterborough County) - struck the east side of Anstruther Lake, west of Highway 28 near Apsley
AUG.02/06 (????), F0, Harvey Township - "along Bear Lake Road in Galway-Cavendish and Harvey Township creating 120 km/h winds"
AUG.02/06 (15:20), F?, Burlington/Oakville - 3KM SE of Hwy.6 and Hwy.401 / Canwarn trained weather spotters confirm that a tornado occurred along the path east of Morriston. Further investigation will be required to establish the intensity of the tornado and other possible touchdowns. Hail the size of quarters was also reported west of Guelph.
JUL.17/06 (22:15), F1, Newmarket - 10km path, 100m wide. Woodbine & Davis Dr. to York Region. Factory lost part of roof, large swath of trees uprooted.
JUL.17/06 (22:15), F0, Newmarket - Stonehaven subdivision, 500m path, 20-30m wide.
JUL.10/06 (14.38), F? - Owen Sound
JUL.04/06 (17:30), Cobourg - Eye-witnessed
JUL.04/06 (13:20), F1 - Osceola
JUN.21/06 (????), F1 - Kakabeka Falls (West of Thunder Bay)
JUN.19/06 (18:30), F1 - Wartburg
JUN.18/06 (22:30), F1- Duntroon
JUN.16/06 (????), F0 - Greening Bay (southeast shore of Lake Nippissing)
MAY.16/06 (????), F0 - Bracebridge to Port Carling

OCT.25 - CELL PHOTOS FROM SEP.8/2006 :
4 shots I just found in a directory from September 8th going up Hwy.115 to Peterborough, shot around 5pm.

SEP.15 - MORE LIGHTNING PHOTOS OF AUG.02 STORMS, thanks to Greg :
(Taken from St. Catharines, Ontario)

AUG.28 - DAMAGE PHOTOS FROM AUG.02 TORNADOS
Paul N. sent these photos showing some of the damage done by the tornadic storm system that passed through southern and central Ontario, August 2nd. "This damage occurred at the west end of Maple Lake, then along the south shore. The inland shots are from another 2 touchdowns at the east end of the lake towards Stanhope Airport and into West Guilford."
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PHOTOS

CLICK HERE for a Weather Network clip of Mark Robinson being interviewed with video about this day's storms

August 2nd, 2006, 10pm - St. Catharines, Ontario (facing north towards Toronto - you can see downtown Toronto in some) :

JUL.18 - LARGE STORMS LAST NIGHT, POSSIBLE TORNADOES, 2 DEATHS
A woman was killed outside of Peterborough after being crushed by a tree, and another death in Algonquin Park. Possible tornado near North Bay, damage to houses, large amount of trees down, planes flipped over, etc. Over 300 trees knocked down in Peterborough and large areas of power down in that city. UPDATE: 2 CONFIRMED TORNADOS IN NEWMARKET (F0, F1)

JULY 17, 2006 : JUL.18 - LARGE STORMS LAST NIGHT, TORNADOS, 2 DEATHS
A woman was killed outside of Peterborough after being crushed by a tree, and another death in Algonquin Park. Possible tornado near North Bay, damage to houses, large amount of trees down, planes flipped over, etc. Over 300 trees knocked down in Peterborough and large areas of power down in that city.

"While camping at Mew Lake Campground in Algonquin Park, our family experienced some excitement during the wind storms on Monday July 17. At about 10PM, something cut a path about 60m wide through the campground, passing right through our campsite. My guess is that it was a tornado which did not touch down but was at treetop level, but it may have been a microburst. Whatever it was, it knocked down dozens of big trees in our immediate vicinity. Two fairly big pine trees came down into our campsite. One fell onto our tent and van -- just as Lorraine was getting into the tent and I was about to step out of the van -- doing plenty of damage but hurting no one. According to the press, one person was killed and three were injured in Algonquin campgrounds, and the impact on those camping in the Park's backcountry is still uncertain.
UPDATE 29-July-2006: The van is now at a body shop, undergoing $3300 in repairs."