a tornado left a trail of damage in a southwestern ontario community on saturday as a major storm system drenched much of the southern part of the province with heavy rain and caused localized flooding.
david sills, executive director of the northern tornadoes project at western university, confirmed a tornado touched down in the community of ayr, ont., around 11 a.m. on saturday.
the team has been in the area since the afternoon and is currently assessing the width, length, extent of damage and other data, he said.
to identify whether a tornado has made a touchdown, sills said researchers tend to look at the path of damage. he said this tornado left a long but narrow path behind it, with no damage beyond its boundaries.
“we rate the tornadoes based on the damage they’ve caused,” sills said.
“we’ve got trees down in every direction possible. … this one was on the weak side.”
the weather conditions in play across the province on saturday, which included heat, high humidity, variable winds and a low-pressure system, can set the stage for tornado activity, said environment canada meteorologist trudy kidd.
the storm had passed by late afternoon, but left behind a trail of downed trees and power lines, said sue foxton, mayor of north dumfries, the township that includes ayr.