Funnel Clouds Have Been Spotted In Ontario & Environment Canada Says It Could Get Serious

Canada is known to go through bouts of extreme weather at any time of year. Right now, there are funnel clouds in Thorold and other areas of southern Ontario. Residents have been warned that these can become serious very quickly.

Environment Canada issued alerts for the Niagara and Barrie - Orillia - Midland regions, as well as the cities of Hamilton and Toronto, reporting that funnel clouds had been spotted.

More of these clouds are possible throughout the day and into the early evening.

In addition, a waterspout (which is a tornado that forms over a body of water) had been seen over Lake Nipissing.

These specific types of weather formations are "generated by weak rotation under rapidly growing clouds or weak thunderstorms," according to Environment Canada.

While funnel clouds themselves are generally harmless, they do have the capability to develop into landspout tornadoes if they end up touching the ground.

The good news is that the likelihood of these clouds turning into landspout tornadoes (which are relatively weak anyway) is very low.

Even still, southern Ontario residents are told that any sighting of these particular weather formations should be treated seriously.

People should be prepared to take shelter, as Environment Canada notes that these clouds can form very quickly.

Residents are also still being advised that heavy amounts of rain could cause localized flooding in certain regions of southern Ontario.

Ottawa could also be dealing with some messy weather as it faces off against the tail end of Tropical storm Fay.

While the cooler temperatures today definitely offer a bit of a break from the ongoing heat wave, they came at the cost of serious rainstorms.

Adding funnel clouds that could potentially turn serious on top of that doesn't really seem like a fair trade.

Toronto residents can expect to see even more record-breaking temperatures throughout July, though.

It's already been a hot season, with June delivering more 30 degree days than there were throughout all of summer 2019.