Ontario’s first tornado of the year occurred in a rural area in the northern reaches of Wellington County.
Environment Canada has confirmed that an EF1 tornado touched down Wednesday afternoon in an area about seven kilometres northeast of Clifford, which is northwest of Harrison and Mount Forest.
The agency sent investigators to the area Thursday to look into reports of damage.
They found that a barn was partially damaged by the tornado, while a number of mature trees were snapped and three grain bins were ripped from their cement bases.
According to a statement from Environment Canada, the tornado was about 3.5 km long and 200 metres wide.
Its highest wind speed was estimated at 170 km/h, putting it near the upper end of the EF1 class.
Damage to two homes under construction in Brampton around the same time was determined to have come from strong, straight-line winds.
