Ayr’s tornado was categorized as an upper level EF1.
The Ayr tornado on Saturday was categorized as an EF1 by the Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University.
In situations like that, we’re not always sure if the damage was caused by a tornado or by a downburst. In those situations, we search for evidence of a lengthy, narrow damage path. There were numerous pictures and videos taken during this occasion. In an afternoon interview with CTV News Kitchener, David Sills, Executive Director of the Northern Tornadoes Project, said, “So we knew we were looking at a tornado even before we got there.”
After Sills’ team arrived, ground and drone investigations of the tornado’s route and the severely damaged area along Greenfield Drive and Northumberland were conducted as part of the inquiry.
According to Sills, his team will keep looking into what happened, and as more information comes to light, the tornado’s categorization may change.
“We’ll check to see if any information exists that suggests it ought to increase. since the damage was fairly impressive. Things like trees that were essentially strewn everywhere, even against the tornado’s direction, which is uncommon for a weak tornado, and rail cars that were toppled over.
According to Sills, this tornado would be rated as an exceptionally powerful EF1 tornado.
This is EF1’s higher end, almost reaching EF2. We did saw some fairly stunning destruction. The majority of the roof on the Home Hardware store was missing. A single wall
was collapsed. Those train cars that were tipped over. There was one trailer that was actually lofted in the air and thrown on its top.”
According to the announcement, images and videos demonstrate how the tornado formed close to Wolverton and moved eastward into Ayr.
The survey team calculates that the tornado had a maximum route width of 230 meters, a track length of 5.23 kilometers, and a maximum wind speed of 165 km/h.
According to Sills, the investigators think the tornado was over in less than twenty minutes.
It is really difficult to warn about because of this. A tornado warning has a target lead time of just ten minutes. They are attempting to issue a warning just 10 minutes in advance of the tornado, as that is the average time at which they form.
Following the storm, no reports of injuries were made.
The classification system for tornadoes
Sills stated that when it comes to categorizing tornadoes, specialists
use what is known as the Enhanced Fujita Scale, commonly known as the EF Scale.
“The Enhanced Fujita Scale is a scale that goes from 0 to 5. What we do is look at the damage that is in front of us. Say, it’s a house – on the EF Scale we’ve got a damage indicator saying ‘house.’ Then it’s got a bunch of different degrees of damage associated with that house. We just find the one that matches the best,” Sills explained.
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