Tornado spotted near southwest tip of Lake Winnipeg
CBC News | Posted: July 18, 2015 6:22 PM | Last Updated: July 19, 2015
'It became a full funnel cloud and it was clearly touching the ground,' says woman in Matlock
At least one tornado was spotted sweeping up debris around the southwest tip of Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba on Saturday afternoon.
Catherine Dyck, who lives in Matlock, a small town about 70 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, said she witnessed a funnel cloud touch down during the noon hour.
"We saw it coming down into a point. We took several photos of it, and then it became a full funnel cloud and it was clearly touching the ground," said Dyck, adding this was the first time she has seen a funnel cloud.
Dyck said she and her partner were on their way to the garbage dump when they saw something odd along the horizon in the distance. Their first instinct, Dyck said, was to stick around and watch the spectacle from afar.
"It was pretty amazing to see it. Pretty amazing to be able to have the techniques to be able to take photographs and video of it immediately and notify somebody."
She also photographed it spinning across the surface of Lake Winnipeg.
A family filmed a tornado near Winnipeg Beach, and just to the south of Matlock, near Petersfield, Man., Jason Bedard recorded footage of a funnel cloud touching down, too.
A funnel cloud becomes a tornado when it touches ground. Environment Canada confirmed it received several reports of tornadoes near Interlake communities around Lake Winnipeg's south basin Saturday afternoon.
The first report of funnel clouds came in just before 12:30 p.m. CT from someone in Petersfield. Twenty minutes later, a funnel cloud was reported to have touched down near Winnipeg Beach, Environment Canada said. A short time later, the agency said it received reports of a tornado near Matlock.
The sightings in the Interlake region all likely correspond to the same funnel cloud, the agency said, adding it hasn't received any reports of damages related to it.
Tornado warnings that were in effect earlier in the day — for St. Clements (Grand Beach and Brokenhead), Winnipeg Beach, St. Andrews, Selkirk, Gimli, Stonewall, Woodlands, Eriksdale and the surrounding areas — were later removed.
Funnel cloud advisories issued for areas in the Interlake region and the southeast parts of the province were called off at about 6 p.m., according to Environment Canada's website.
Special weather advisories were also in effect across south and southeastern Manitoba on Saturday afternoon — including Winnipeg, Hecla, Grand Beach, Morden, Winkler, Sprague, Steinbach, Lac Du Bonnet, the Whiteshell and the surrounding areas. Those, too, had been called off as of 6 p.m.
Environment Canada said people should take cover immediately if they see funnel clouds forming or touching down.