Environment Canada confirms tornado touched down south of Ottawa on Aug. 3

Environment Canada says a tornado touched down in the Ottawa area on the evening of Thursday, Aug. 3 during a severe thunderstorm.

It was confirmed near Metcalfe, Ont., a rural community about 30 kilometres southeast of Ottawa, just before 7 p.m. eastern time.

Steve Desroches, Ottawa city councillor for Riverside South-Findlay Creek told The Sam Laprade Show on Friday, Aug. 4 that roughly a dozen homes in his ward were impacted with damage to roofs and properties.

Obviously the emergency services were very quick to respond and assess the situation and help those homeowners that were affected,” said Desroches.  “Very happy to report that there were no injuries and no fatalities, but still a very scary moment for families. And today in Riverside-South-Findlay Creek the clean up has started and continues and likely will be –for some people—into the weekend, if not longer”

#ONStorm #ottawa#Tornado check it out. Right in the center pic.twitter.com/KUC7dLWbfo

— Ghazi H. Wadi (@GhaziOttawa) August 3, 2023

There were also a number of reports of hail throughout the national capital, along with strong winds and rain.

Hail in Stittsville #ottnews #ONStorm pic.twitter.com/erKyJySVUn

— Matt (@RegularMatt) August 3, 2023

That was an intense 3 min in Stittsville. #ONStorm #ottnews pic.twitter.com/naCKviYdaY

— Matt (@RegularMatt) August 3, 2023

Ottawa Fire Services says part of a roof was ripped off a home in Riverside South, a community south of Nepean.

The fire service says everyone got out of the home safely and the home’s structural integrity was not damaged, but it’s not clear whether the damage was caused by a tornado.

“What we saw was a lot of roofs being ripped off of houses, so firefighters were out and about and they were helping these residents’ tarp off their roofs, so it didn’t cause too much damage to their houses,” said Nick DeFazio, public information officer for Ottawa Fire Services, on The Sam Laprade Show on Friday, August 4. “We did respond to a call for lightning hitting a house here in Ottawa. When we got there and there was charring on the side of the house so it did look like lightning did strike the house, so we went in with thermal imaging camera and the firefighters checked…and luckily no fire did start up in-between the walls.”

#OttNews #Ottawa #OttawaStorm https://t.co/9SjgvBvaBt pic.twitter.com/PlmRHsVUcA

— Ottawa Fire Services (@OttFire) August 3, 2023

Severe storms in mid-July brought tornados to Barrhaven, which is another south Ottawa neighbourhood, and to Mirabel, Que.

Barrhaven is only about 30 kilometres west of Metcalfe, where Thursday’s tornado was spotted.

About 125 homes were damaged in Barrhaven during the July 13 storm, said Kim Ayotte, the general manager of emergency and protective services for the City of Ottawa.

Most of the damage involved roofs being ripped off homes, broken windows and damage from falling trees. There were no serious injuries.

Aaron Jaffe, an engineering researcher at the Northern Tornado Project, told The Canadian Press in July that the tornado appeared to have had a path more than 100 metres wide and several kilometres long.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2023.

With files from Liam Fox.