Gull Lake, Manitoba Tornado

The [Gull Lake, Manitoba] link title Tornado was associated with a severe weather outbreak that occurred in southeastern Manitoba on August 5, 2006. The combination of temperatures of 27ºC-33ºC(81ºF-91ºF) in the region, a southerly flow of moist air clashing with a brisk northernly flow of air behind a cold front, and the jet stream overhead were the perfect ingredients to ignite severe thunderstorms with an increased risk of tornadic activity.

NOTE: GULL LAKE SUPERCELL IS THE ONE NORTHEAST OF WINNIPEG.

Timeline of the Storms

Around 3:30 P.M. CDT, a large thuderstorm cell developed over Lake Manitoba, near St. Laurent. At this point, the storm's main threats were strong winds and small hail. A severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued by Environment Canada for regions in its path, as it quickly moved eastward and continued to develop.

By 5:00 PM CDT, people at the Gull Lake camping ground noticed dark clouds beginning to move in. The storm was on its way.

Around 5:10 PM CDT, Environment Canada issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for areas such as Patricia Beach and Gull Lake.But, at 5:16 PM, this was upgraded to a Tornado Warning when someone reported a tornado touchdown near Patricia Beach, moving eastwards towards Gull Lake. The tornado was now minutes away.

In Gull Lake, the winds were picking up, and large hail began to fall around 5:20 PM. People who were outdoors fled inside to thir campers, cottages, etc. to escape. But still, few knew that a tornado was coming because there are no tornado sirens in this region, and few had cable television, or internet access where they were to alert them.

Now, as people continued to flee indoors, at 5:28 PM the tornado struck Gull Lake, snapping trees, downing power lines, flipping over boats on the water, even throwing people considerable distances. The thunderstorm now continued east, putting down upwards of 3 tornadoes before it headed into Northwestern Ontario, leaving behind a large area of damage. Unfortunately at Gull Lake, a 64-year-old Winnipeg woman was killed, while dozens more were injured. Later on, the tornado was rated F2 on the fujita scale, with winds upwards of 252 km/h. It was the worst tornado disaster to hit Manitoba in over 70 years.

Sources

-http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2006/08/07/man-tornado-aftermath.html

-www.Canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=7a8bd9ce-fbd3-4823-890d-b257b7e29237&k=12824

-www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060806/manitoba_wx_060806/20060806?hub=Canada