One of Ontario's longest storms spanned 400 km — spawned hail and tornadoes

This Day In Weather History is a daily podcast by Chris Mei from The Weather Network, featuring stories about people, communities and events and how weather impacted them.

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On Monday, July 17, 2006, storms tracked across Ontario and Quebec for almost 400 km. This is one of the longest storms in Ontario's history.

Before the storm, there was a hot and moist air mass that had created extremely humid conditions. Finally, the atmosphere let out the storms that consisted of heavy winds, funnel clouds, hail, rain and tornadoes.

Peterborough, Ont. Courtesy of TWN

The thunderstorms battered a large area of Ontario — destroying trees, hydro poles and power lines in its track. Many areas along the storm's route declared a state of emergency.

Peterborough, Ont. Courtesy of TWN

It took more than 800 hydro workers to repair the damage from the storms. According to Hydro One, these storms caused the most severe damage to the province's power grid since the 1998 ice storm.

A tornado hit Newmarket at 10:15 p.m. and travelled for half a kilometre. With winds reaching 180 km/h, the tornado damaged backyards, fences, and power poles. The twister also ripped off shingles from homes and broke windows.

Mattawa, Ont. Courtesy of TWN

Another tornado hit travelled from Cedar Valley to Vivian.

The storm also generated a microburst that caused tornado-like damage. Areas on Manitoulin Island and around North Bay reported tree and trailer damage.

North Bay, Ont. Courtesy of TWN

The storms caused two deaths and over 250,000 residents to be without power.

To learn more about the 2006 Ontario and Quebec storms, listen to today's episode of "This Day In Weather History."

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