First tornado of the season spotted in southern Manitoba
No damage or injuries have been reported from the tornado, a weak landspout that touched down near Letellier Tuesday afternoon.
Storms that tracked through the Prairies on Tuesday delivered the first tornado of the 2020 season in Manitoba, just days into summer.
Environment Canada says the twister touched down near the town of Letellier at around 5:45 CDT Tuesday, with a dust cloud seen beneath the funnel. The agency has given the tornado a rating of EF-0 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, meaning wind speeds in the range of 105-137 km/h.
"This was considered a landspout tornado, generated by weak rotation Under rapidly-growing clouds or weak thunderstorms," Environment Canada says. "Landspout tornadoes do not usually cause significant damage but can still be dangerous as they can topple trees, damage roofs, or toss debris a short distance."
No damage has been reported so far, and Environment Canada is asking for more information from anyone who may have seen the tornado.
Manitoba sees some 7-10 tornadoes per year on average. It is the site of the most powerful tornado in recorded Canadian history, the country's only F5-rated one, which touched down in 2007 in Elie. Though several homes were destroyed, there were no fatalities.
The last tornado fatality in Canada was in Manitoba in 2018, when an EF4 tornado killed one person in the town of Alonsa.
