Red tornado warnings were issued for several London-area communities Thursday afternoon and evening as a severe thunderstorm made its way across southwestern Ontario, bringing torrential downpours and strong winds.
As of 7:10 p.m., tornado warnings were in effect for the Chatham-Kent and Rondeau Park areas, and for parts of western Elgin County, including Rodney and Shedden, according to Environment Canada.
The tornado warning for Elgin County followed a separate tornado warning for the area that had been lifted minutes earlier.
The latest weather advisories and warnings can be found on the agency’s website.
Previous tornado warnings, issued around 6:40 p.m. for parts of western Elgin County, including Rodney and Shedden, and around 6 p.m. for western Middlesex County, including Strathroy, have since been lifted.
Those lifted warnings had said a “tornado location” was over Glencoe, moving east at 40 km/h, and then over John E. Pearce Provincial Park, moving east at 25 km/h.
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“Environment Canada meteorologists are tracking a severe thunderstorm that is possibly producing a tornado,” the warning said. “Damaging winds, large hail and locally intense rainfall are also possible.”
“This is a very dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation.”
If threatening weather does approach, the weather statement advised, take cover in a basement or interior room. Anyone outside, it adds, should protect themselves from flying debris and hail, and secure any loose objects.
In the late afternoon, tornado warnings were in place for Sarnia and eastern Lambton County, including Lambton Shores, Grand Bend, Pinery Provincial Park, and Watford. Those warnings have since been lifted.
Environment Canada has also placed southwestern Ontario under a yellow-level severe thunderstorm watch for Thursday afternoon and evening. Some areas were also under severe thunderstorm warnings.
Local utility outages are possible, Environment Canada said, with wind gusts up to 90 km/h and the possibility of toonie-size hail.
Earlier in the day, Environment Canada meteorologist Peter Kimbell said the severity of the storm depended, in part, on how much sun the region received over the course of the afternoon.
“It’s kind of a double-edged sword,” he said. “We want the sun, but the more sunshine we get on day like today, it will increase the temperatures and increase the instability and cause some thunderstorm activity.”
When CBC News spoke with Kimbell, he said the risk of a tornado was very low, explaining that while some of the atmospheric conditions are favourable, it was not a high risk.
“It’s not like in some situations, we have the (wind) shears being very high, and that would increase the likelihood of a tornado. That’s not the case today.”
