A severe thunderstorm brought heavy rain and a brief tornado warning in Ottawa on Monday afternoon. There were no immediate signs of severe damage, though localized flooding and hail in the city’s west end is being reported. A section of westbound Highway 417 near the Bayshore Shopping Centre was partially flooded. Traffic was seen moving normally at slower speeds. “I am getting notes in my inbox letting me know that folks are experiencing flooding on the street and some folks are experiencing a little bit of water in their basements,” College Ward Coun. Laine Johnson said in a post on Facebook. Johnson is urging those experiencing flooding to report it to 311. A tornado alert was issued a 5:25 p.m. as meteorologists tracked a severe thunderstorm and rotation moving east over Fitzroy Harbour. A tornado warning was also issued earlier in the afternoon in Pembroke. The Ottawa alert was called off less than 10 minutes later. It’s unclear if a tornado touched down. Severe thunderstorm watch in effect A yellow watch – severe thunderstorm remains in effect as of 7:45 p.m. Monday. The watch is expected to be lifted this evening. “Thunderstorms will continue to affect the area into this evening. Some storms could become severe with strong winds, large hail and heavy rain. Conditions may become favourable for some storms to produce tornadoes, but confidence in any tornado threat is low,” Environment Canada says. Environment Canada says hazards include damaging winds between 90 to 110 km/h, loonie to ping pong ball size hail, rain amounts of up to 50 mm and a risk of a tornado. Severe thunderstorm warnings are issued when imminent or occurring thunderstorms are expected to produce damaging hail, wind or rain. Environment Canada says to take cover if threatening weather approaches. Before today, Ottawa had already seen 59.4 mm of rain this month, including 6 mm on Saturday. It follows 281.8 mm of rain in July.
