Environment Canada confirms twister made landfall in Simcoe County

CTV Barrie: Tornado Viewer video of a tornado in Simcoe County, courtesy @adamfarmall19

Environment Canada confirms a tornado touched down in Simcoe County on Monday night.

Officials say an EF0 twister made landfall in Oro-Medonte, leaving a small path of damage behind it.

The tornado moved quickly, about 60 kilometres an hour along the ground.

People who saw it, say it was brief, lasting only about 10 minutes.

“When we got to the 7th line, it was really dark down here, and my husband said ‘oh my goodness, I think that one is just over our house,’” says Carol Taylor. She pulled out her cell phone to take video of the twister, while her husband drove up Highway 11.

Several homes on Somerset Boulevard and Ridge Road West were hit. Shingles were ripped off roofs, and plenty of trees were downed.

A large cell phone tower was bent over by the winds, which experts estimate to have reached 120 kilometres per hour.

“The path width was about 200 metres wide, and the path length was just under five kilometres,” says David Sills, a severe weather scientist with Environment Canada.

Experts from Environment Canada were on scene today surveying the damage.

Even though warnings were issued across the region, including Barrie, Orillia, Washago, and Collingwood, the tornado caught many people off guard.

“There was no hail, there was no green sky, but there was a lot of noise from all the debris blowing around and trees snapping. It was over so fast,” says Patty Dooley, who lives in the area.

The national weather service says there have only been about half a dozen tornados in Ontario this summer, they normally see about double that.

Tornado season can stretch into October.