Downbursts responsible for storm damage in Belleville and Mallorytown: researchers

Storm damage in Belleville CTV’s Nate Vandermeer reports on damage in Belleville following Thursday’s storm.

Downbursts were responsible for the wind damage in the Belleville and Mallorytown, Ont. areas last week, according to researchers.

No tornadoes touched down during the powerful thunderstorms that moved through Eastern Ontario on Thursday, researchers from the Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University said on Monday. Tornado warnings had been in effect for the area.

The storm in Belleville caused significant tree damage and power outages. The roofs of some buildings were damaged, but no one was injured.

“Damage assessed as EF0 downburst, with an estimated max. wind speed of 115 km/h, with weak damage in multiple locations over an area at least 6.6 km long and 1.1 km wide,” the researchers said Monday of the Belleville storm.

A downburst was also responsible for tree damage in the Mallorytown area, researchers said, with those windspeeds also reaching about 115 km/h.

There was also a downburst in Hungry Bay, near Shannonville, that caused some tree damage.