tornado warning ontario

Bizarre weather slams Ontario with hail and possible tornado

There's a tornado warning in Ontario and other bizarre weather conditions in the province today.

The good ole' Ontario weather machine has been acting up today, spreading out various kinds of truly ridiculous conditions across the province.

For the morning of Wednesday, April 5, Toronto and the GTA were woken up by booming thunderstorms and pouring rain, the kick-off to the beginning of a Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs day.

Tornado watches have been called for Windsor-Chatham, Rondeau Park, Windsor, Leamington and Essex County - where conditions are favourable for the development of severe storms with one or more tornadoes.

Environment Canada said ping-pong ball-sized hail and wind gusts of 100km/hour are possible. Speaking of hail, this was seen across the province in various sizes.

Incredibly strong winds were recorded in the Colborne, Quinte West and Belleville areas as well, with fallen trees and power lines seen scattered on the roads.

Freezing rain and thunderstorm were seen in the Ottawa area and parts of Eastern Ontario and are likely to continue overnight. Everything from tree branches, cars and BBQs were encased in ice. 

At the same time, Ontario saw its first day of 2023 hit above 20 degrees, with Windsor clocking in at 20.5 degrees Celsius this afternoon.

One of the most recent weather watches is calling for intense marine squalls reaching up to a possible 50 knots for western Lake Erie and 40 knots for eastern Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

All in all, active weather is the name of the game here in Ontario, thanks to a Colorado Low and its rain, winds and thunderstorms.

Grabbing your flashlights and candles, watching out for flooding and staying indoors for the rest of the day is probably your best course of action here.

Lead photo by

@larryherscovitch



Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in City

Another Toronto highway is about to become a gridlocked mess due to lane closures

Outrage after Ontario student explains how to use food banks for free groceries in viral video

Invasive 'zombie plant' species is wreaking havoc across Ontario lakes

Almost nobody believes Toronto's Eglinton Crosstown LRT will open this year

5 million people transferred from TTC in under 2 months with One Fare program

Toronto is giving away free trees for you to plant outside your home

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau gets candid about new book

Some Canadians fed up with constant complaints about the country