Environment Canada confirms tornado hit Beauce region

An F1 Tornado caused a lot of damage in the Beauce region on Saturday afternoon (Facebook/Service de Sécurité Incendie Ville St Joseph de Beauce)

SAINT-JOSEPH-DE-BEAUCE - A moderate-intensity (F1) tornado on the Fujita scale hit the ground Saturday afternoon at approximately 3:30 pm in Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, according to Environment Canada.

The meteorological phenomenon was part of a vast area of showers and storms that came through the region.

Winds estimated at nearly 150 km/h blew over the area and caused more than a kilometer of damage.

Trees were uprooted and roofs and barns were heavily damaged, says meteorologist René Heroux.

Heroux went to the scene, to investigate the nature of the debris and confirmed that it was indeed a tornado and not a microburst.

“In the case of a microburst, the winds blow in a straight line and it is much wider than long,” he explained. “While in the case of a tornado it is a whirlwind with a strong suction effect. It lifts objects, be it roofs or foundations. It is much narrower, but it’s long.”

(Facebook\ Service de Sécurité Incendie Ville St Joseph de Beauce)

The Fujita scale is used to classify tornadoes in order of severity. It goes from F0 to F5, where F0 is the lowest intensity.

Five to six tornadoes occur on average every summer in Quebec, usually with F0 or F1 intensity. The phenomenon is not uncommon, but difficult to predict.

The Maskinongé tornado that ravaged the Trois-Rivières region in 1991 was one of the most powerful tornadoes to hit Quebec, with damages estimated at around $17 million.