More than 200 years of storm reports are now available in this digitized tornado archive

Michael Newark’s hand-drawn analysis of the tracks of the Stratford and Woodstock F4 tornadoes which are among the strongest ever documented in Ontario, and Canada (Source: University of Western Ontario)

A new digitized archive at Western University documents severe weather events of years past with news clippings, photos, reports and more, dating back to 1792.

Take for example the 1979 Woodstock Tornado, an F4 tornado that travelled more than 50 kilometers from it’s origin, causing an estimated $50 million in damages (or more than $200 million when adjusted for inflation). The online archive offers more than a hundred documents and reports on the event, from 1979 to today.

As the result of years of efforts, documents on this and other storms in the region can now be found in the Michael Newark Digitized Tornado Archive.The archive’s namesake created Canada’s first national tornado database, compiled of decades of records.

“When I started this work, I never imagined it would become such an extensive archive,” Newark said. “We did the best we could with the resources we had, and seeing it digitized today is truly gratifying.”

Initially compiled as a physical archive in his time working as a meteorologist at Environment Canada, Newark started his work compiling information in the mid 1970’s.

“As a meteorologist, I used to give weather commentaries on CBC Radio. I was asked about a devastating tornado in Windsor in 1974 and realized I didn’t have the answers. That prompted me to start compiling this data,” he said.

Environment Canada wouldn’t part with the records but did agree to have them digitized so that others could make use of them.

Now, all of the records of Ontario’s storms are available online, and the Northern Tornado Project is working to digitize records for the rest of Canada.

As they say, those that don’t remember their past are doomed to repeat it, and modern researchers are using this historical data to help more accurately understand tornado risks, and aid meteorologists, emergency planners, insurance providers, and researchers with a more comprehensive ability to forecast storms in the future.

“It’s about building that knowledge base,” Newark emphasized. “The more you know about tornadoes – where they occur, when to expect them, and how severe they might be – the better prepared you can be. This archive aids in that understanding.”