Canada’s first confirmed tornado for the 2026 season hit close to home.
According to the Northern Tornadoes Project, a severe storm that moved across southwestern Ontario on May 9 produced both an EF0 tornado and EF0 microburst in the Lucan and Granton areas, north of London.
According to the NTP survey, the brief tornado occurred south of Granton, shortly after 4 o’clock Saturday afternoon, and produced estimated wind speeds of up to 110 km/h. Damage included a toppled vehicle pulling a trailer, a damaged solar panel mounted on a pedestal, and some broken large tree branches.
A separate EF0 microburst was confirmed south of Lucan with estimated wind speeds up to 130 km/h. Damage in that case included a barn roof being torn apart.
Staff with the Northern Tornadoes Project carried out a damage survey on May 10, using both ground and drone analysis. Due to the limited damage indicators, officials say the tornado track details remain uncertain, though researchers believe the tornado path was likely at least 1 km long.
The Northern Tornadoes Project was founded at Western University in 2017 to better detect tornados throughout Canada and improve severe and extreme weather understanding.