Tornado warning in Edmonton

Not sure if we are in the clear yet, sitting in the basement with a few fistfuls of lights.

We are okay here

Glad you are ok! How common are tornado warnings in Edmonton? We had a small but pretty destructive one blow through my area in Vermont several years ago and there have been a few others like that but it is very rare and there is never any warning. It always happens on a very hot and humid summer day when a cold front blows in and starts severe thunderstorms late in the day. The one that came through here missed my property by maybe three hundred yards but took out a row of 200 year old trees down the hill and all the power lines in the whole area. I remember looking out the window in my living room when it was happening and everything was very dark gray then turned an eery green all of a sudden with crazy wind kicking up and then it was over; the sun came out and it was strangely quite. It was only after it was over that we realized it had been a tornado.

CarpentryHero said:

Not sure if we are in the clear yet, sitting in the basement with a few fistfuls of lights.

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I'm not sure your priorities are in order during this disaster. Please set down your few fistfuls of flashlights and reach out your hands to comfort your scared loved ones, with all three of them.

Hooked on Fenix said:

I'm not sure your priorities are in order during this disaster. Please set down your few fistfuls of flashlights and reach out your hands to comfort your scared loved ones, with all three of them.

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My priorities were where they should be, at home with family (in the basement) I didn't stay at work and I didn't try and save my favorite lights, just grabbed a mitt full on the way to the basement so that we weren't in the dark if the power went out.

Tornadoes aren't common here, last one that hit close to Edmonton was in 1987.
The damages to the city this time are mostly sewer based, some towns south west of us had some small touchdowns and lots of hail. No deaths that I'm aware of

CarpentryHero said:

My priorities were where they should be, at home with family (in the basement) I didn't stay at work and I didn't try and save my favorite lights, just grabbed a mitt full on the way to the basement so that we weren't in the dark if the power went out.

Tornadoes aren't common here, last one that hit close to Edmonton was in 1987.
The damages to the city this time are mostly sewer based, some towns south west of us had some small touchdowns and lots of hail. No deaths that I'm aware of

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RE the 1987 Tornado

The tornado remained on the ground for an hour, cutting a swath of destruction 40 kilometres (25 mi) long and up to a kilometre (0.6 miles, or 3000 feet) wide in places, and peaking at F4[2]​ on the Fujita scale. The tornado killed 27 people, injured more than 300 people, destroyed more than 300 homes, and caused more than $332.27 million CAD ($581 million in 2013 dollars[1]​) in property damage at four major disaster sites. The loss of life, injuries and destruction of property made it the worst natural disaster in Alberta's recent history and one of the worst in Canada's history.

Yeah that was a scary one. I'd only been in Alberta for a year when it hit. I think I was 9 or 10 years old. It had gone back up into the sky when it passed over Lancaster park, dropping fridges and sheds in the field next to our PMQ.
The window in the house behind us shattered from the pressure change and minutes later The Hail came down leaving GolfBall size dents on some vehicles. We had a bucket of the hail in our freezer for nearly a year, Showing visiting family and friends. It was the most devastating thing I've ever been through and it missed us.


Sitting in the basement this time, not letting on to my 16 month old that anythings wrong. For all he knew we where in the basement for a dance party

CarpentryHero said:

My priorities were where they should be, at home with family (in the basement) I didn't stay at work and I didn't try and save my favorite lights, just grabbed a mitt full on the way to the basement so that we weren't in the dark if the power went out.

Tornadoes aren't common here, last one that hit close to Edmonton was in 1987.
The damages to the city this time are mostly sewer based, some towns south west of us had some small touchdowns and lots of hail. No deaths that I'm aware of

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Glad to hear you have your priorities in order. Family comes first. Take care and stay safe. I home everything turns out okay for you and your loved ones.

Thanks Fenix, I'm glad I'm not a drainage worker today. There tearing it up all over town today.