Severe thunderstorm watch issued for most of southern Ontario

CTV's Ashley Bacon brings us the latest on the severe weather system that's rolling into Waterloo Region and southern Ontario.

Most of southern Ontario was under a severe thunderstorm watch.

Environment Canada issued the weather alert on Tuesday afternoon, warning of the potential for dangerous storms.

People in Waterloo Region, Guelph and the surrounding areas were warned of the potential for wind gusts up to 110 km/h and large hail up to 4 cm.

By 5 p.m. Kitchener, Stratford, Waterloo, Guelph, Elmira, Fergus, Erin, Elora and Rockwood were under a severe thunderstorm warning.

Severe thunderstorm warnings are issued when imminent or current thunderstorms are likely to produce or already producing large hail, damaging winds or torrential rainfall.

The warning and watch ended for the Kitchener area before 6:30 p.m., but a wind warning was in place for parts of Cambridge and Brant County.

All the right ingredients for a tornado

The notice from Environment Canada warned the watch included the “risk of a tornado.”

The Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) said the spring storm rolling could produce an early season twister.

“It’s definitely possible we could get our first tornado in Ontario today,” said NTP Director, Dr. David Sills.

Tornado season doesn’t typically start until May but the team at NTP said the system passing through Ontario has all the right ingredients for the first touchdown of the year.

“There’s a big area of potential severe weather today ahead of a big cold front that’s coming through and yeah, there is the potential for a tornado or two,” Sills said.

According to Sills, severe weather is more difficult to predict in Ontario.

“In the U.S. for instance, it’s a lot easier to see severe weather coming from days out. In southern Ontario, just because of the influence of the lakes and we’re downwind of where thunderstorms happen the day before,” he said.

‘Averaging about 100 tornadoes per year’

In 2024, 129 twisters developed across Canada. Most of them were not severe but that’s not always the case.

An F2 tornado touched down in Ayr, Ont. last summer which caused significant damage.

“We’re averaging about 100 tornadoes per year now since we started the project in 2017,” Sills said.

As for the storm moving across southwestern Ontario over the next 48 hours, Sills said its formation looks more like a system typically found during peak summer months.

“Today’s setup looks a heck of a lot more like a July setup than an April setup so that’s a bit surprising,” he said. “Just with the way the cold front’s coming through and the temperatures we’ll get to today, so that’s a little on the unusual side.”

Sills said if the storm watch turns into a warning, it is important to take cover immediately, ideally in a room or area with no doors or windows.