Environment Canada is reporting that a “possible” tornado occurred in Mission near Hayward Lake on Sept. 16..
According to a Tweet on ECCC Weather British Columbia’s Twitter account, the agency received reports and footage of the tornado.
“After further investigation, there was evidence of rotation on Doppler radar suggesting an F0 tornado, however the status will remain possible.”
We received reports & footage of a possible tornado near Hayward Lake (NW of Mission, BC) on the afternoon of Sept 16, 2018. After further investigation, there was evidence of rotation on Doppler radar suggesting a F0 tornado, however the status will remain "POSSIBLE". #BCstorm pic.twitter.com/McFz3rkdM9
— ECCC Weather British Columbia (@ECCCWeatherBC) September 18, 2018
The last reported tornadoes in the Lower Mainland occurred near Coquitlam on May 1, 1988 and another near Pitt Meadows on March 10, 1991. Both were F0.
A tornado rated an F0 has winds speeds between 64 to 116 km/h. The damage from a F0 tornado is light.
Matt MacDonald, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, explained that after viewing a video sent of the storm, it “showed very clearly, in the vicinity of Hayward Lake, some low lying clouds with some rotational component to it.
“Definitely indicating the possibility of a tornado.”
MacDonald said the weekend weather was unstable with lots of thunderstorms, heavy downpours and lightning.
“We dug into the analysis charts and looking at the Aldergrove radar, there was some rotation evident. There is something we look at, called a couplet, showing that there are winds going away from the radar and winds coming towards the radar,” he explained.
However, even with all of that information confirmed, MacDonald said they still can’t classify it as anything other than a possible tornado.
“To confirm a tornado, we really need either photographs or first-eye account of funnel cloud touching the ground. And we did not get that.”
There was no damage reported and no injuries.
The last reported tornado in B.C. was near Quesnel on July 12, 2016.
