can anyone inform me if tornadoes are a real threat living in alberta?ive spent a lot of time in calgary and the only time i heard of one was 2007,there was a warning on the news and it kept showing the huge one that was in edmonton a while back.but ive never seen one while i was there and dont know of any big ones in or around calgary but you always hear of these funnel clouds popping up.so what i want to know is,are big or dangerous tornadoes something ive got to expect if i live in alberta or are they not a serious issue?

Yes they are a real possibility no they are not a major issue.

In Canada the odds of dying from a tornado are 12 million to one.

http://www.mb.ec.gc.ca/air/summersevere/ae00s02.en.html

Unlikely to see an actual tornado in the Calgary area due to proximity to the mountains and terrain limitations, this is not to say they will never happen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...nado_outbreaks

so would that still count in okotoks then?

They do occur but they are nothing major as far as I'm aware, I was actually reading in Edmonton Journal today about one that occured over Red Deer (lastnight I think) but no damage or anything was reported. There was one in Edmonton that killed people and was major but that was 21 years ago or something. You will get quite alot of thunderstorms in summer and there has been a few funnel clouds in my area but they haven't formed anything.

We had a touch down last night in Red Deer I just thought it was a tad windy
http://www.albertalocalnews.com/redd..._49943982.html

The radio today was saying one touched down in North Red Deer for about 10 minutes and destroyed some trees. We are in Tornado Alley as they say but I haven't experienced/seen/noticed anything other than high winds

Hopefully

I was at a wedding at Westerner Park yesterday and saw the tornado. Here are a couple of photos I took:

That is a half block from where we live - I walk the dog on the other side of that road everyday

I did think it was a bit windy

To the OP I am laying all of the blame on you for this.

City of Calgary
2:07 PM MDT Wednesday 8 July 2009
Tornado watch for
City of Calgary issued

http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/warni...e.html?abrm121

Had to laugh this morning, was listening to the radio and apparently there was a problem with the tornado warning system for Red Deer the other day.


It didn't work.

Why didn't it work I hear you ask?

Because there was a tornado over the transmitter

And thats true

Edited to add - thanks for that Steve we've got a warning too for tonight!

Yep had the same chuckle while reading the morning paper.

quite. just saw this as the radio announcer in the background announces a tornado watch for edmonton and the surrounding areas, bloody jinxed us he has.

nice photos, i am showing them to the machine gunner in law in the hope it will scare her into going back home early, either that or a house landing on her so she looses her ruby slippers.

We have Tornado watches out for virtually all of east central Alberta from Westlock in the north to Okotoks and Strathmore in the south.

http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/warnings/ab_e.html

It would appear Environment Canada is taking no chances.

Yep, radio now talking about black friday and the cat 5, wonderful.