List of fatal and violent Canadian tornadoes

This page lists all tornadoes that have occurred in Canada that have documented fatalities, or have a rating of F3/EF3 or higher in intensity.

Canada adopted the Enhanced Fujita scale on April 1, 2013, with the country using the Fujita scale before. Both scales measure how violent tornadoes are, measuring damage done by tornadoes to look at how fast the windspeeds would be inside of a tornado; however the Enhanced Fujita scale takes into consideration the condition of buildings prior to the tornado when assessing damage. Less than 5% of tornadoes that occur in Canada are rated as F3/EF3 or higher.

The only officially rated F5/EF5 tornado in Canada is the 2007 Elie Tornado, however Thomas P. Grazulis of The Tornado Project has unofficially rated the 1920 Alameda-Frobisher Tornado and the 1935 Benson Tornado as F5 (neither having any official intensity ratings due to their age).

The deadliest tornadoes in Canadian history were the 1912 Regina 'Cyclone' (at least 28), 1987 Edmonton 'Black Friday' Tornado (27), and the 1946 Windsor–Tecumseh Tornado (17).

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Severe tornadoes

List of Severe Tornadoes in Canadian History^[1]^[2]^[3]
Date	Tornado	Province	F/EF	Fatalities	Damage ($2023 CAD)	Localities Affected	Notes
1829, Jun 2	1829 Guelph Tornado	ON	- (likely F4+)	?	–	Guelph, ON	Very strong tornado, swept buildings away, likely F4 or F5^[4]
1829, Aug 7	1829 Galt Tornado	ON	-	1~	–	Galt (now apart of Cambridge, ON)
1850, July 5	1850 Lake Scugog Tornado	ON	F3	Multiple		Lake Scugog, Sanford-Manchester-Enniskillen, ON	^[5]
1856, June 29	1856 Oxford Tornado	ON	F3	4		Golspie to Eastwood, ON	^[6]
1859, August 5	1859 Charlottetown Tornado	PEI	-	2+		Charlottetown, PEI	^[7]
1868, March 16	1868 Toronto Tornado	ON	F3	1		Toronto, ON	^[8]
1879, Aug 6	1879 Bouctouche Tornado	NB	F3	5–8	$4,200,000	Grand-Bouctouche, NB	Easternmost fatal tornado in North American history
1880, May 31	1880 Lambton County Tornado	ON	F3	0		Lambton County, ON	^[9]
1881, June 28	1881 Millbrook Tornado	ON	F2	2		Millbrook, ON	^[10]
1884, May 15	1884 Elora-Mapleton Tornado	ON	F4	0	–	Elora, ON – Mapleton, ON
1888, Jun 6	1888 Cornwall Tornado	ON	-	3~	–	Cornwall, ON
1888, Aug 16	1888 Salaberry-de-Valleyfield	ON & QC	-	9–11	–	South Glengarry, ON – Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, QU	Started in Ontario, and later crossed the border into Quebec
1892, Jun 14	1892 St. Rose Tornado	QC	-	6	–	Montreal, QC
1912, Jun 30	1912 Regina Cyclone	SK	F4	≥28	$103,000,000	Regina, SK
1915, Jun 25	1915 Redcliff Tornado	AB	F4	2	–	Redcliff, AB
1920, Jul 22	1920 Alameda-Frobisher Tornado	SK	F5 (estimated)	4	$1,400,000	Alameda, SK – Frobisher, SK	No official ratings, but was unofficially rated as F5 by Thomas P. Grazulis^[11]
1922, Jun 22	1922 Southern Manitoba Tornado(es)	MB	-	5	-	Portage la Prairie, MB	Officially recorded as just one tornado, but was thought to have been multiple
1935, Jul 1	1935 Benson Tornado	SK	F5 (estimated)	1	–	Benson, SK	No official ratings, but was unofficially rated as F5 by Thomas P. Grazulis^[11]
1944, Aug 9	1944 Kamsack Tornado	SK	-	4	–	Kamsack, SK
1946, Jun 17	1946 Windsor–Tecumseh Tornado	ON	F4	17	$163,000,000	River Rouge, USA – Windsor, ON – Tecumseh, ON	High-end F4, borderline F5^[12]
1946, Jun 24	1946 Fort Frances Tornado	ON	F3	0	–	International Falls, USA – Fort Frances, ON – Rainy River, ON	Crossed the border from Minnesota into Ontario
1953, May 21	1953 Sarnia Tornado	ON	F4	7	–	Port Huron, USA – Sarnia, ON	Crossed the border from Michigan into Ontario
1967, Apr 17	1967 Huron-Perth Tornado	ON	F3	0~	–	Huron County, ON – Perth County, ON – St. Jacobs, ON
1970, Aug 20	1970 Sudbury Tornado	ON	F3	6	$78,200,000+	Greater Sudbury, ON – North Bay, ON – Chalk River, ON
1974, Apr 3	1974 Windsor-Flat Rock Tornado	ON	F3	9	$3,040,000	Flat Rock, MI – Windsor, ON
1977, July 18	1977 St. Malo Tornado	MB	F4	3	–	St. Malo, MB
1978, Jun 19	1978 Morris-Ostenfeld Tornado	MB	-	1	$8,680,000	Morris, MB – Taché, MB – Aubigny, MB – Ste. Anne, MB
1979, Aug 7	1979 Woodstock-Stratford Tornado	ON	F4	2	$434,000,000	Woodstock, ON – Stratford, ON	Was the costliest tornado prior to the 1987 Edmonton tornado
1982, Jun 30	1982 Rocky Mountain House Tornado	AB	F3	0	$1,450,000	Rocky Mountain House, AB
1985, May 31	1985 Barrie Tornado	ON	F4	12	$337,000,000	Hopeville, ON – Barrie, ON	Apart of the 1985 Midwest Tornado Outbreak
1985, May 31	1985 Grand Valley-Tottenham Tornado	ON	F4	4	–	Grand Valley, ON – Orangeville, ON – Tottenham, ON	Apart of the 1985 Midwest Tornado Outbreak
1985, May 31	1985 Rice Lake Tornado	ON	F3	0	–	Rice Lake, ON – Erin, ON	Apart of the 1985 Midwest Tornado Outbreak – twin tornado with Alma Tornado
1985, May 31	1985 Alma-Hillsburgh Tornado	ON	F3	0	–	Alma, ON – Rice Lake, ON – Erin, ON	Apart of the 1985 Midwest Tornado Outbreak – twin tornado with Rice Lake
1987, Jul 31	1987 Edmonton Tornado	AB	F4	27	$771,000,000	Edmonton, AB	Very high-end F4, missed the F5 rating by only a few mph
1993, Jul 29	1993 Holden Tornado	AB	F3	0	–	Holden, AB
1994, Jul 10	1994 Turtle Mountain Tornado	MB	F4	0	$1,850,000	Killarney-Turtle Mountain, MB
2000, Jul 14	2000 Pine Lake Tornado	AB	F3	12	$21,600,000	Pine Lake, AB
2000, Jul 23	2000 Marwayne Tornado	AB	F3	0	–	Marwayne, AB
2007, Jun 22	2007 Elie Tornado	MB	F5	0	$55,600,000	Elie, MB	Canada's first and only officially rated F5/EF5
2007, Jun 23	2007 Baldur Tornado	MB	F3	0	–	Baldur, MB
2007, Jun 23	2007 Pipestone Tornado	MB	F3	0	–	Baldur, MB – Oakville, MB – Pipestone, MB	Very violent tornado that did not hit anything significant, could have been F5
2009, Aug 20	2009 Durham Tornado	ON	F2	1	–	Durham, ON
2010, Jun 29	2010 Raymond Tornado	SK	F3	0	$18,000,000	Kawacatoose Reserve 88, SK
2011, Aug 21	2011 Goderich Tornado	ON	F3	1	$149,000,000	Goderich, ON	Caused significant electrical outages to surrounding municipalities
2018, Aug 3	2018 Alonsa Tornado	MB	EF4	1	$2,300,000	Alonsa, MB	EF5 damage observed, but building was deemed poor condition^[13]
2018, Sep 21	2018 Ottawa Tornado	ON	EF3	0	$388,000,000	Ottawa, ON	High-end EF3, borderline EF4
2020, Aug 8	2020 Scarth Tornado	MB	EF3	2	–	Scarth, MB
2023, Jul 1	2023 Didsbury Tornado	AB	EF4	0	–	Didsbury, AB

See also

• List of Canadian tornadoes and tornado outbreaks (before 2001)
• List of Canadian tornadoes and tornado outbreaks (since 2001)
• List of F5 and EF5 tornadoes
• Tornado

References

1. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-02-25. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
2. "Blog Posts". www.uwo.ca. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
3. Canada, Public Safety (2018-12-21). "The Canadian Disaster Database". www.publicsafety.gc.ca. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
4. Staff, Advertiser (2018-09-27). "Tornado partially destroyed infant town of Guelph in 1829". Wellington Advertiser. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
5. "Lake Scugog, Sanford-Manchester-Enniskillen". Michael Newark Digital Tornado Archive. July 5, 1850.
6. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/ntp_mndta/1850s/1856/1/
7. https://newspaperarchive.com/victoria-daily-british-colonist-sep-28-1859-p-3/
8. "Toronto". Michael Newark Digital Tornado Archive. March 16, 1868.
9. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/ntp_mndta/1880s/1880/3/
10. https://newspapers.brucemuseum.ca/viewer?file=/media/newspapers/The_Teeswater_News/The_Teeswater_News_1881-07-08.pdf#page=1&search=tornado&phrase=false
11. Grazulis, Thomas P. (2001). The Tornado: Nature's Ultimate Windstorm. The Tornado Project – St. Johnsbury. p. 18. ISBN 0-8061-3258-2.
12. . 2003-01-11. Archived from the original on 2003-01-11. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
13. Stevenson, Sarah A.; Miller, Connell S.; Sills, David M. L.; Kopp, Gregory A.; Rhee, Daniel M.; Lombardo, Franklin T. (2023-07-01). "Assessment of wind speeds along the damage path of the Alonsa, Manitoba EF4 tornado on 3 August 2018". Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics. 238: 105422. doi:10.1016/j.jweia.2023.105422. ISSN 0167-6105.