How has tornado forecasting technology changed over time?
How has tornado forecasting technology changed over time?
https://www.cbc.ca/lite/story/9.7270117
Publish Date: 2026-07-15 07:35:00
Source Domain: www.cbc.ca
How has tornado forecasting technology changed over time?
CBC ExplainsIman Janmohamed(external link) | CBC News | Posted: July 15, 2026 11:30 AM | Last Updated: Just now
Social media has changed prediction landscape, weather expert says
Image | Alta-Tornado-20260709
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Tom Taylor says he used to occasionally phone into Edmonton’s local weather office to report conditions and ask questions, but his call one summer day in 1987 was anything but usual.
“I felt comfortable saying, ‘Well, is there a tornado in the area?’ And they immediately said, ‘Why? Have you seen the funnel?’” he told CBC News on Monday as he recounted a day that has become known as Black Friday.
“I said, ‘Yes, and it touched the ground.’ Then they asked me a few more questions and said, ‘We have to put out a tornado warning.’”
After witnessing a twister barrelling towards Edmonton, the Leduc man was among the first to report what became one of the deadliest tornadoes in Canadian history.
On July 31, 1987, an EF-4 tornado on the enhanced Fujita scale passed through Alberta’s capital, killing 27 people and injuring at least 300 others. The tornado racked up over $600 million in damages, adjusted for inflation.
Black Friday was a “wake-up call” for many Canadians when it comes to emergency preparedness and tornado forecasting, says Dave Sills, the director of the Northern Tornadoes Project, a research group based out of Western University in London, Ont.
But the 1987 tornado isn’t the only destructive tornado in Alberta’s history. A tornado in Pine Lake, Alta., in July 2000 resulted in 12 deaths, and this year’s tornado season in the province has seen double the number of twisters than the year prior. As the science progresses, we’re getting better and better at being able to…
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