RED DEER, Alta. — Many residents of Red Deer watched with awe and some apprehension as a funnel cloud dropped down into a tornado just north of the central Alberta city Saturday evening.
"It looked like it touched down," Environment Canada meteorologist Steve Knott said. "Definitely not just a regular funnel cloud, but a tornado that was on the ground."
Red Deer resident Josh Radtke said he and his wife got a call from his mother-in-law telling them there was a funnel cloud above their house. He looked out the back door and saw the cloud forming. A few minutes later he spotted it dropping down.
"We were a little nervous," said Radtke, who lives in north of the city. "We've got a six month old daughter so we got some formula and water and got a spot ready in the basement just in case it built."
Red Deer resident Kelvin Arendt said it began with a light patch and V shape in the cloud.
He said the bottom of the V stretched out and then suck back in, before suddenly "it just dropped down into that snake."
"You see it and you just hope it's not going to come this way," Arendt said. "It's the first time I've actually seen one that close."
Knott said there are roughly 15 tornadoes reported in Alberta each year. In this case, a group of storms developed to northwest of Red Deer.
"They essentially moved southeastwards towards Red Deer," Knot said of the storms. "They had an instability line associated with it and one of them happened to spin up that tornado that we observed."
No injuries or property damage have been reported.
Red Deer is 145 kilometres north of Calgary. http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Tornado+touches+down+central+Alberta/1760921/story.html
"It looked like it touched down," Environment Canada meteorologist Steve Knott said. "Definitely not just a regular funnel cloud, but a tornado that was on the ground."
Red Deer resident Josh Radtke said he and his wife got a call from his mother-in-law telling them there was a funnel cloud above their house. He looked out the back door and saw the cloud forming. A few minutes later he spotted it dropping down.
"We were a little nervous," said Radtke, who lives in north of the city. "We've got a six month old daughter so we got some formula and water and got a spot ready in the basement just in case it built."
Red Deer resident Kelvin Arendt said it began with a light patch and V shape in the cloud.
He said the bottom of the V stretched out and then suck back in, before suddenly "it just dropped down into that snake."
"You see it and you just hope it's not going to come this way," Arendt said. "It's the first time I've actually seen one that close."
Knott said there are roughly 15 tornadoes reported in Alberta each year. In this case, a group of storms developed to northwest of Red Deer.
"They essentially moved southeastwards towards Red Deer," Knot said of the storms. "They had an instability line associated with it and one of them happened to spin up that tornado that we observed."
No injuries or property damage have been reported.
Red Deer is 145 kilometres north of Calgary. http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Tornado+touches+down+central+Alberta/1760921/story.html
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