Meteorological analysis of the 22 June 2007 F5 tornado in Elie, Manitoba

Abstract

During the early evening of 22 June 2007, a violent tornado impacted the western edge of Elie, Manitoba. This was Canada’s first documented F5 tornado. Three primary research questions were posed: (1) What were the pre-storm environmental conditions on 22 June 2007? (2) How did the storm and associated tornado evolve? (3) How does this event compare to other major tornadic events in Canada and the U.S.? The tornado passed in close proximity to a fixed-location Environment Canada Doppler radar at Woodlands, Manitoba. This allowed for a detailed examination of local mesoscale boundaries that were present prior to and during the event. The Elie tornado was rare in the fact that it looped three times within the main track and it moved approximately 5 km during its 40 minute lifetime causing F5 damage to homes and structures when it was an estimated 50 m wide.