Lucan was hit by a small tornado on Monday, but thankfully, there was only minor damage and no one was hurt. The tornado touched down around 3:25 p.m. on Monday, near the southwest edge of the community.
Lucan-Biddulph Mayor Cathy Burghardt-Jesson said the damage was very limited.
However, she was concerned there was no early warning.
The mayor explained that small tornadoes like this can form very quickly, which makes it hard to predict them in time.
Even so, she said there are always lessons to be learned. At their next emergency control group meeting, the town will talk about whether to reach out to Environment Canada to see how alerts might be improved, especially as weather technology continues to get better.
Despite the brief scare, Canada Day celebrations went ahead as planned.
Mayor Burghardt-Jesson said it was hard to believe that only hours earlier, a tornado had touched down. She was glad that everyone could come together and celebrate safely.
myFM spoke with Environment Canada meteorologist Crawford Luke about how tornado warnings are made.
Luke said they use radar and reports from people on the ground to watch for storms. On Monday, tornadoes weren’t expected, but a storm chaser reported a funnel cloud at 3:30 p.m. Radar didn’t show much, but a photo at 3:45 p.m. confirmed it. The warning went out at 3:48 p.m., after the tornado had already formed.
Luke explained new radar updates every six minutes, but tornadoes can still appear and disappear quickly. He thanked everyone for understanding and said they’re always working to keep people safe.
Written by: K. Milhomens