Microburst

By Trevor Greenway

Paul Kodish said he heard what sounded like “an explosion” when a violent windstorm hit his Edelweiss home and sent a tree through his ceiling on the evening of April 29. 

“It was like a rocket,” said Kodish, pointing to a hole in his cedar ceiling.

Kodish was teaching a drum lesson on the evening of April 29 around 6 p.m., when he said “everything just went dark” and a violent windstorm hit without warning. Immediately, trees around his property began falling down – but not just falling – he said the trees were shooting toward the ground “like missiles.” 

One pierced his roof, another jammed more than four feet into the ground and damaged his retaining wall. His vehicle was slightly damaged, but more than that, he and his wife Natalia Kantor, who are new to the Hills, were left shaken. 

“Now, I’m doing okay,” said Kantor, a day after the violent storm, admitting that the day before she was rattled and scared as the storm rattled windows, sent debris into her home and brough instant darkness to their typically bright and sunny Edelweiss home. “I think we had a mini tornado because the tree tops went flying into our roof like bullets. We ran downstairs.”

Environment Canada is now investigating whether a tornado touched down in the area. Winds may have reached speeds of over 100 km/h during the storm’s peak, according to meteorologist Eric Tomlinson. 

Over in Masham, neighbours were also hit hard by the storm. Several residents lost portions of their roofs, others had severe damage to their car shelters and sheds. Trees were uprooted, powerlines were downed and hundreds were left without power for several days. 

Even this reporter’s home wasn’t spared, as evidenced by the solid wood picnic table in the backyard that was tossed eight feet into the air before landing in an above-ground pool. Deck stairs were cracked when a wheelbarrow was thrown into them. Emergency crews in La Pêche were dispatched to clear downed trees in multiple areas, and despite such a violent storm coming so quickly without warning, no injuries were reported. 

Tomlinson told the Low Down that, while it’s too early to tell whether or not a tornado touched down, Environment Canada believes it was a “straight line wind event,” or a “microburst,” which is a downdraft of air that has nowhere to go during a thunderstorm. Tomlinson said Environment Canada confirmed that a severe thunderstorm producing strong winds and hail moved through the area around 6:45 p.m.

“We did get some damage reports from that general area that do suggest some stronger gusts, the possibility of gusts up to 100 kilometres per hour with those thunderstorms was present,” said Tomlinson. He added that Western University’s The Northern Tornadoes Project is investigating the possible presence of a tornado. He said the area was under a tornado warning. “We’re talking more of a microburst for that particular storm,” he said. “With microbursts, you can get winds that resemble a weak tornado that could produce similar levels of damage. So, you could imagine just a lot of rain falling, a lot of air descending very rapidly and then having nowhere to go once it reaches the surface. And so that’s why you can actually get those stronger wind gusts. It won’t be quite as widespread, similar to a tornado in that sense, but definitely enough to cause significant damage for sure.”

Tomlinson advised residents to heed severe thunderstorm warnings and plan accordingly to prepare for extreme weather events. With climate change producing more frequent and more intense storms, he said residents should always have a plan. 

“Having a good idea of where you’re going to be in the evening and the afternoon, just to have a plan in mind as to where you can take shelter, that would be the first advice I would give,” said Tomlinson.  “Obviously, indoors is best. You want to get into an interior area of the building. Stay away from windows, specifically, if the risk that day is for thunderstorms and strong gusts of wind and get to a basement, if possible.” He said if you’re trapped outside, you can take shelter in your car if it’s nearby. If you’re out hiking in the woods, Tomlinson suggests lying down on the ground or finding a “small tree” to take shelter under, as larger trees are more likely to be hit by lightning.