Severe thunderstorms and tornado risk in forecast for Montreal area today

Jun 16 2022, 1:51 pm

On Thursday morning, meteorologists at Environment Canada updated a previous warning and now call for “severe thunderstorms” across the Montreal metropolitan area.

According to the weather agency, “the warm and humid weather expected on Thursday will be favourable for the development of severe thunderstorms in the afternoon.” These strong gusts of wind and heavy downpours have also increased the risk of hail and a tornado for the day.

The alert, issued just after 9 am, is in effect for the following areas:

  • Châteauguay – La Prairie area
  • Laval area
  • Longueuil – Varennes area
  • Montréal Island area

Tornadoes are classified as “rotating columns of high winds,” according to Environment Canada. Sometimes they move quickly (up to 70 km/hour) and leave a long, wide path of destruction. Tornadoes usually strike in the afternoon and evening, but they have been known to also occur at night.

As a general rule of thumb, the agency recommends following this rhyme: “when thunder roars, go indoors!”

For updated weather warnings and forecasts, you can visit weather.gc.ca.

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