Farms damaged in southeast Alberta following suspected funnel cloud

Environment and Climate Change Canada is looking into reports of funnel clouds in southeast Alberta on Monday.

The federal agency received multiple reports of funnel clouds and damage in two possible areas. Part of their investigation includes contacting area residents and people who may have been impacted by the weather.

One of those areas with reports of damage was near Enchant, Alta., a hamlet in the municipal district of Taber.

Judy Dunsmore told Global News most of the damage on the family’s property about 10 kilometres east of Enchant was to farm buildings and corrals.

“It picked up a wooden grain bin and took it through gates and into a pen. It moved a steel bin off its floor and blew another one over,” Dunsmore said.

Enchant is about an hour northeast of Lethbridge and two hours southeast of Calgary.

The weather conditions for such an event were in place at the time.

“On Monday, we had enough instability and convergence across southern Alberta to support severe thunderstorms and funnel clouds,” Global Calgary chief meteorologist Tiffany Lizee said.

“There was certainly potential for a landspout tornado, but there wasn’t enough atmospheric uplift to produce supercells.”

Funnel clouds are rotating columns that extend from clouds, but don’t reach the ground. Tornadoes are funnels that interact with the ground, picking up dust or debris.

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Supercell vs Landspout Tornado