London Had A Tornado Today?

[MikeH]

We get more tornadoes than anywhere else in the world in fact.

[Demerzel]

yeah, we get around 70 a year, just that most hit relatively unpopulated areas so we just don't notice them until something like this happens...

[rah]

70 in a year. Small Potatoes, that's not even close to a record month in the US, But I will grant the US is a touch bigger.

[Provost Harrison]

No it didn't, but it did have one yesterday

[SlowwHand]

If these things aren't the scariest things this side of Hell, I don't know what is.

[Spiffor]

Today, we had quite a bit of wind in Paris as well.

I found it fun, until I learned a guy had been killed by a falling billboard

[Snotty]

We had a short high wind, heavy shower/thunder storm in sw London yesterday at about that time. The winds have been high here this week (not a good time to be up a 2 story scaffold cutting a hedge )

[Solly]

Climate change will mean more tornadoes in the future!

[Barnabas]

Running full speed into a tornado wearing a flying squirrel suit is the only worthy form of suicide

[SlowwHand]

No lie. Have some style.

[Solly]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
If these things aren't the scariest things this side of Hell, I don't know what is.

[Provost Harrison]

I had exactly the same thought

[Wezil]

The fake London (in Ontario) had rough weather as well.

Heavy snowfall shuts city

Sat, December 9, 2006

Londoners will spend days shovelling and plowing huge piles of the white stuff.

By PATRICK MALONEY JOHN MINER KATE DUBINSKI AND RANDY RICHMOND, FREE PRESS REPORTERS




Amity Brown digs out a car from her driveway on Emery Street in London yesterday after the snowstorm. (Morris Lamont, LFP)
London will be digging out today after one of the biggest snowstorms in its history crippled traffic, shut down businesses and left thousands stuck at home yesterday.

Buses are expected back on the roads today, but it could take until tomorrow morning for plows to clear all city streets, following the jaw- dropping blast that blanketed London with 47 centimetres of snow -- even more in some areas -- in 17 hours and caught many people off guard.

"We haven't seen a snowstorm like this since 1978," said Jeff Fielding, London's chief administrative officer.

A vast range of businesses and public services were smothered by the snow, the fallout measured in closings that cascaded through the day:

- All elementary and high schools in London and the region were closed. For city kids, it was the first snow day off school in more than 25 years and the first time the entire Thames Valley district school board -- one of Ontario's largest -- and the London District Catholic school board had shut down in more than a decade.


- The University of Western Ontario and Fanshawe College also closed, cancelling exams.

- City bus service was completely cancelled for the first time since 1978. The storm began Thursday night and one bus, slated to finish its run at 1 a.m. yesterday, made it back to the garage seven hours later. With only eight of its 33 bus routes fully cleared yesterday afternoon, the London Transit Commission suspended service for the first time since '78.

- Some vehicles stuck in snow were simply abandoned in the middle of roads around the city, making an already difficult drive worse, police said.

- Mail delivery was halted in what Canada Post said may be a first for the city. "It's pretty obvious, if you're residing in the city of London, how tough it is to get around," spokesperson Tom Creech said.

The OPP, which patrols regional roads, took the unusual step of asking drivers to stay home early yesterday.

By the time the snowfall stopped, officers had responded to a whopping 226 calls, Sgt. Dave Rektor said, including at least two that left drivers in critical condition.

Rektor added drivers going too fast contributed to several crashes.

"It's unbelievable that people can't get their heads around the fact that we live in Ontario -- and it snows."

Robin Woollard, 67, who was hurt in a huge Highway 401 pileup near Woodstock on Thursday, remained in critical condition yesterday, OPP Const. Dennis Harwood said. He was flown to McMaster hospital in Hamilton.

An Aylmer man, 49, was flown to a London hospital yesterday after a collision between a van and a tractor trailer east of St. Thomas. The trucker, a 25-year-old from Tillsonburg, wasn't hurt.

In London, there were only minor fender-benders despite the brutal driving conditions.

"The road conditions were as bad as they've been in years," said London police Const. Amanda Pfeffer.

There were reports of snow as deep as 66 centimetres in some neighbourhoods.

The storm started Thursday and raged into yesterday. London hadn't seen anything like it since Dec. 7, 1977, when a record 57 centimetres fell in one dump.

The storm was tame compared to the worst ones of the 1970s that paralysed London and surrounding areas, including days-long storms in 1971 that killed three people and in 1978 that killed eight.

This time, Londoners are getting relief quickly -- all that snow could turn into rivers of slush by tomorrow, with temperatures forecast to climb to 7 C and remain above freezing for a couple days.

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/CityandRegion/2006/12/09/2703402-sun.html

There is a picture at the link provided.

edit: That's about 2' of snow for the non-metric out there.

[Tuberski]

18 inches of snow shut down a city in Canada?

That really doesn't seem like a whole lot.

18 inches in Utah merely slowed things down a bit,

ACK!

[Tuberski]

Oh, I've never been in a tornado or even seen one in real life, but ever since I was a little kid, I've had nightmares about them.

Probably 3 times a year.

ACK!