Tornado whips across eastern region

While a sudden, heavy downpour effectively put an end to the sunshine of Saturday afternoon, June 5, some residents of Dalkeith and Ste-Anne-de-Prescott watched a level 1 tornado sweep across their villages.

An Environment Canada weather bulletin confirmed severe storms traveling in an eastward direction near the two villages, Saturday afternoon at around 5 p.m., noting eventual damages were the result of an F1 tornado, with estimated wind speeds of 117 to 180 kilometres per hour.

"Investigators documented extensive damage to barns, grain bins, corn silos, houses and mobile homes, as well as countless broken and uprooted trees," reads the report, released Monday afternoon. "Broken power poles resulted in loss of power for some locations. The damage path was measured to be just over eight kilometres long and ranged from 20 to 30 metres wide before appearing to dissipate at the Ontario-Québec border."

The agency, however, received reports on Monday of damage in the nearby cross-border town of Sainte-Marthe, Québec, meaning it is possible the tornado "did strengthen again over Québec."

The tornado, along with another one in Leamington, Ontario, were confirmed by Environment Canada as the first two of the 2010 season to occur in the province's southern region.

According to Hydro One, about 4,500 customers in the affected areas were left in the dark. Power was restored to more than half of those homes by early Monday morning, while the remainder reportedly waited until Tuesday.

The severe weather was caused by a low pressure system that originated in the central plains of the United States, sometimes referred to as Tornado Alley, according to The Weather Network.

That same line of storms and tornadoes blew across Illinois, Ohio and Michigan this weekend, resulting in five deaths.