Post by Paddy by Grace on Jul 8, 2009 6:06:14 GMT -7
www.edmontonsun.com/news/alberta/2009/07/06/10034871-sun.html
CALGARY -- Residents of central Alberta are eyeing the sky warily after a tornado touched down north of Red Deer.
More storm warnings were being issued yesterday afternoon -- less than a day after a funnel cloud touched down in the Blackfalds-Lacombe area 150 km north of Calgary.
Other funnel clouds were sighted but damage appeared to be confined to uprooted trees.
Tara Reinboldt said she was enjoying a drink at her Blackfalds home when a violent hailstorm erupted.
"My girlfriend told me about the warning," said Reinboldt, 27, who described the funnel cloud as an undulating string.
"It was really weird."
The hailstorm accompanying it "was like a whiteout," she added.
Reinboldt said she hid under stairs in her home until the storm slackened.
"There were more warnings today ... it makes everybody talk about Pine Lake," she said, referring to the 2000 tornado that destroyed the trailer park southeast of Red Deer, killing a dozen people.
A tornado did touch down in the Blackfalds area during the Saturday dinner hour, said Matt MacDonald, meteorologist for Environment Canada.
"A very strong rotation was observed with all sorts of debris swirling within it," he said, adding no real damage has been reported.
Smaller dust devils also blew up in the area and might have been mistaken for tornadoes, he said.
The central Alberta area has been dubbed tornado area for the frequency of such storms.
BILL.KAUFMANN@SUNMEDIA.CA
CALGARY -- Residents of central Alberta are eyeing the sky warily after a tornado touched down north of Red Deer.
More storm warnings were being issued yesterday afternoon -- less than a day after a funnel cloud touched down in the Blackfalds-Lacombe area 150 km north of Calgary.
Other funnel clouds were sighted but damage appeared to be confined to uprooted trees.
Tara Reinboldt said she was enjoying a drink at her Blackfalds home when a violent hailstorm erupted.
"My girlfriend told me about the warning," said Reinboldt, 27, who described the funnel cloud as an undulating string.
"It was really weird."
The hailstorm accompanying it "was like a whiteout," she added.
Reinboldt said she hid under stairs in her home until the storm slackened.
"There were more warnings today ... it makes everybody talk about Pine Lake," she said, referring to the 2000 tornado that destroyed the trailer park southeast of Red Deer, killing a dozen people.
A tornado did touch down in the Blackfalds area during the Saturday dinner hour, said Matt MacDonald, meteorologist for Environment Canada.
"A very strong rotation was observed with all sorts of debris swirling within it," he said, adding no real damage has been reported.
Smaller dust devils also blew up in the area and might have been mistaken for tornadoes, he said.
The central Alberta area has been dubbed tornado area for the frequency of such storms.
BILL.KAUFMANN@SUNMEDIA.CA