PHOTOS: Quebec cleans up after storms bring tornado, torrential rain
Powerful severe thunderstorms hit southern Quebec on Thursday, knocking out power and flooding streets just as the evening commute began. At least one tornado has been confirmed
A prolific line of severe thunderstorms swept from Ontario into southern Quebec through the day on Thursday, prompting widespread tornado warnings and leaving behind damage, power outages, and flash flooding in its wake.
The storms formed as a low-pressure system pushed a cold front into a muggy airmass parked over the region.
A sharp change in winds aloft allowed thunderstorms to develop rotation as they hit eastern Ontario and southern Quebec, producing at least one confirmed tornado south of Ottawa and one in Mirabel, Que. Crews with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) will investigate further tornado damage that resulted from Thursday’s storms.
Downed trees in Sorel-Tracy in southwestern Quebec. July 13, 2023 (Joey Olivier/MeteoMedia)
The thunderstorms easily shoved vigorous winds down to the surface, resulting in widespread straight-line wind damage across the region. Montreal-Trudeau International Airport measured a 98 km/h wind gust as the edge of the storms pushed overhead.
Nearly 500,000 customers in southern Quebec lost power as the storms entered the region, but many of the outages were the result of transmission lines shutting down to protect infrastructure from forest fires up north. Even with those shutdowns, the storms likely caused hundreds of thousands of power outages throughout Montreal and parts of the Eastern Townships.
Heavy rainfall also led to localized flooding throughout southern Quebec, mainly focused on Metro Montreal. The storms dropped 50-75+ mm of rain in a hurry, overwhelming storm sewers in a hurry and forcing runoff to pool on streets instead. Quebec City received close to 60 mm of rain in only three hours.
Residents throughout the region documented the severe thunderstorms as they swept across the region. Check out some of the impressive visuals from Thursday’s storms, below.
WATCH: Drone footage shows possible tornado damage in Quebec
WATCH: Tornado touches down in southern Ottawa, damaging homes
Thumbnail image courtesy of Baxter Merry in Montreal, Quebec.
