Tornado watches this afternoon for most of eastern Ontario

Ottawa·New

Environment Canada has a tornado watch in place for most of eastern Ontario Monday afternoon. Gatineau is included, but western parts of the region such as Pembroke and Belleville are not. There is a severe thunderstorm watch for the rest of western Quebec.

Severe thunderstorm watches cover almost all of western Quebec

A thunderstorm rolls into a city.
A thunderstorm in downtown Ottawa in 2018. Thunderstorm and tornado watches were issued for most of the region late Monday morning. (Ian Black/CBC)

The latest:

  • A tornado watch is in place for much of eastern Ontario this afternoon.
  • Communities covered include Ottawa, Gatineau, Kingston and Cornwall.
  • A severe thunderstorm watch covers the rest of western Quebec.
  • There are no alerts for western parts of the region such as Pembroke and Belleville.

Environment Canada has a tornado watch in place for most of eastern Ontario Monday afternoon. Gatineau is included, but western parts eastern Ontario are not.

Tornado watches mean conditions are favourable for possible tornadoes, while tornado warnings mean a tornado has been reported or there’s good evidence one is imminent.

Advice in case of a tornado includes staying away from exterior walls and windows, ideally in a basement or on the ground floor, and getting out of vehicles.

Other risks from the storms include wind gusts up to 90 kilometres an hour, hail and heavy rain, according to the forecast. There’s no more specific timeline for the line or cluster of storms to hit than the afternoon.

There is also a severe thunderstorm watch for the rest of western Quebec. It too says strong winds, heavy rain and hail are possible this afternoon and evening and mentions storms like this can sometimes produce a tornado.

There are currently no alerts for the westernmost parts of eastern ontario such as Bancroft, Belleville and Pembroke. Some of those areas had tornado warnings last week.

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