ONE KILLED IN MANITOBA TORNADO

[tropicana]

GULL LAKE, Manitoba, Canada
Sat Aug 5 2006
A 64 year old woman was killed and several others injured , including her husband Saturday when a tornado touched down at a campground north of Winnipeg.
The woman's husband was one of the three injured taken to a Winnipeg hospital with undetermined injuries.

There was no warning, coming quickly. People felt the wind and hail and tried to duck for cover.
It could have been much worse because most people were attending an annual picnic on the other side of the lake when the tornado hit.

Within minutes, hail was battering down becoming very loud and the rain came down much harder.
There wasn't much left in some places, it's a shambles. Some buildings look like they exploded and some other buildings are across the highway.
There were 23 trailers and cabins at the seasonal campground.

Downed power lines and trees were everywhere and the area was being sealed off due to the danger from the live wires.
Trauma teams were in the community to help people who were shaken up.
Environment Canada meteorologist Dan Fulton said the storm began east of Lake Manitoba in mid-afternoon.

Fulton said the storm crossed Lake Winnipeg and dropped a tornado as it reached Patricia Beach at 5:19 p.m. local time.
The tornado went through Gull Lake and was also sighted at the junction of Highways 12 and 59, and in the Lac du Bonnet area.
Fulton said the storm dropped 50-millimetre sized hail in Lac du Bonnet.

Fulton says it was definitely a tornado that hit Gull Lake, about 50 minutes north of Winnipeg.
The storm cut a swath as it moved eastward into Ontario. It damaged houses, toppled trailers, uprooted trees and flipped vehicles.

-justin-

[Hybridstorm_November2001]

I heard about it while listening to the radio this afternoon. Sadly it reminds me of another Killer Canadian Tornado that struck a campground a few years back

[tropicana]

SUMMARY WEATHER STATEMENT ISSUED BY ENVIRONMENT CANADA AT 3:18 PM CDT
SUNDAY 6 AUGUST 2006.

SUMMARY OF TORNADOES IN MANITOBA ON SATURDAY AUGUST 5, 2006.

A PRELIMINARY ONSITE ASSESSMENT TODAY BY ENVIRONMENT CANADA
METEOROLOGISTS INDICATES THAT THE TORNADO THAT STRUCK THE GULL
LAKE AREA OF MANITOBA LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON, AUGUST 5,
2006 WAS AN F2 ON THE FUJITA TORNADO SCALE, WITH A DAMAGE TRACK OF
UP TO 200 METRES IN WIDTH.

F2 TORNADOES ARE CLASSIFIED AS "CONSIDERABLE" ON THE FUJITA SCALE,
AND HAVE WIND SPEEDS OF BETWEEN 181-252 KM/H. THEY ACCOUNT FOR
ABOUT 24% OF ALL TORNADOES AND ARE TYPICALLY MARKED BY ROOFS BLOWN
OFF HOMES, SHEDS AND OUTBUILDINGS DEMOLISHED, AND MOBILE HOMES
OVERTURNED.

ENVIRONMENT CANADA HAS ALSO RECEIVED REPORTS OF THREE OTHER
TORNADOES SPAWNED BY THE SAME SYSTEM OF THUNDERSTORMS THAT EXTENDED
FROM THE NORTHERN INTERLAKE SOUTHWARD INTO MINNESOTA.

AT 4:00 P.M. A TORNADO WAS OBSERVED NEAR JACKHEAD (THE
KINONJEOSHTEGON FIRST NATION). THIS TORNADO KNOCKED DOWN A SWATH
OF TREES AND POWER LINES.

AT 5:20 P.M. THE TORNADO OCCURRED IN THE GULL LAKE AREA.

AT 6:00 P.M. ANOTHER TORNADO WAS REPORTED NEAR LAC DU BONNET.

AT 7:00 P.M. ANOTHER CELL IN THIS LINE OF STORMS SPAWNED A TORNADO
IN WARROAD, MINNESOTA, JUST SOUTH OF THE INTERNATIONAL BORDER.

THE STORMS WERE TRIGGERED BY A COLD FRONT THAT SWEPT ACROSS SOUTHERN
MANITOBA SATURDAY AFTERNOON. ENVIRONMENT CANADA ISSUED SEVERE WEATHER
WATCHES AND WARNINGS FOR 49 DIFFERENT FORECAST REGIONS IN MANITOBA
ON SATURDAY.

THE THUNDERSTORMS INITIATED ON THE EASTERN SHORE OF LAKE MANITOBA,
TRACKED ACROSS THE SOUTH BASIN OF LAKE WINNIPEG AND INTO
NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO WHERE THEY WEAKENED. IN ADDITION TO THE
TORNADOES THIS THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX GAVE NUMEROUS REPORTS OF
LARGE HAIL (QUARTER TO GOLF BALL SIZE).

METEOROLOGISTS FROM ENVIRONMENT CANADA'S PRAIRIE AND ARCTIC STORM
PREDICTION CENTRE IN WINNIPEG ARE REVIEWING THE STORM PATTERNS AND
IMAGES TO FURTHER EXAMINE THE EVENTS.

LAST YEAR, MANITOBA REPORTED 14 TORNADOES. ON AVERAGE, EIGHT
TORNADOES ARE REPORTED EACH YEAR. TORNADO REPORTS HAVE RANGED FROM
A LOW OF TWO IN 1988 TO A HIGH OF 19 IN 1992. BECAUSE THE PRAIRIES
HAVE LARGE, SPARSELY POPULATED AREAS, MANY MORE TORNADOES LIKELY GO
UNDETECTED.

[all_we_know_is_FALLING]

Aww, that's sad. I'm sorry to hear that.