Thunderstorm watch for GTA ends

The severe thunderstorm watch issued by Environment Canada for Toronto and surrounding areas has ended.

Forecasters warned severe storms would develop, complete with hail, high winds and heavy rainfall.

The storm gave the GTA a lightning show when it reached Toronto around 9:30 p.m. The rain should fully die down by midnight, said Yoseph Mengesha, an Environment Canada meteorologist, and not affect the morning commute.

The main threat with this thundershower was heavy downpour, possible hail, and winds gusting up to 70 kilometres per hour, Mengesha said.

There was no risk of tornado.

Funnel clouds reported in Michigan caused the provincial Emergency Management agency to issue a red alert in southern Ontario on Sunday, urging residents in Sarnia and Windsor to stay indoors or seek shelter immediately.

The red alert and tornado warning were later downgraded to severe thunderstorms in the region. No tornadoes were actually reported on Ontario.

“The earlier threat fizzled out,” Mengesha said.

All counties from Windsor-Essex-Chatham-Kent in the southwest, to York-Durham in the northeast, including Peel, Hamilton, Niagara, Durham and the GTA had been on storm watch.

Environment Canada announced Sunday afternoon that severe thunderstorms were approaching areas near Windsor and Sarnia at up to 100 kilometres per hour.

The U.S. National Weather Service issued tornado warnings for seven Michigan counties. These storms come just a week after devastating tornadoes ripped through the American Midwest, killing more than 100 people in Missouri and injuring 900 others.

Zoe McKnight Staff Reporter

Comments

[Joseph Witalis]

OMG! The article said storms would reach Toronto at 9:30pm; at exactly 9:30pm I heard thunder immediately followed by heavy rain in North York! Kudos to the environment Canada forecasters!