John Hudson
EF4
While doing some research on Dr. Fujita, I came upon something surprising in his Memoirs to Unlock the Mystery Of Severe Storms. There was an unusually strong tornado (F4) just south of the city in 1977, and although I was only twelve, I can remember hearing the reports on the radio that night about how it leveled several houses in the area, resulting in two fatalities. This tornado was, to a large degree, a pivotal moment in my fascination with weather, that continues to this day.
Dr. Fujita mentions this tornado in his research, under the heading of "Selected Canadian Tornadoes":
Rosa Tornado of 18 June, 1977
This rare tornado lifted a house off its foundation, killing two persons. Requested by the Winnipeg Weather Office, I visited the St. Malo area to conduct an aerial survey. It was an F4 tornado spawned by an isolated thunderstorm [...] Located along the center line of the damage swath (10.5 miles x 1.0 miles) were several swirl patterns of uprooted trees commonly seen in the wake of a slow-moving, large tornado. As the tornado crossed highway 59, it blew off a section of the pavement.
I went to the offices of the Winnipeg Free Press to find articles about this tornado, and could find no mention of it. However, I decided to skip ahead to the month of July, 1977 in the microfilm library and found detailed articles. Apparently, the date of June 18, 1977 Fujita specified in his work is incorrect.
I suspect the error was a result of Dr. Fujita being more accustomed to the traditional April-June tornado season in the United States. It was really cool to discover he had actually been here in Manitoba, conducting research in the painstaking fashion he became famous for, and adding to the large knowledge base of severe weather that became his legacy.
John
VE4 JTH
Dr. Fujita mentions this tornado in his research, under the heading of "Selected Canadian Tornadoes":
Rosa Tornado of 18 June, 1977
This rare tornado lifted a house off its foundation, killing two persons. Requested by the Winnipeg Weather Office, I visited the St. Malo area to conduct an aerial survey. It was an F4 tornado spawned by an isolated thunderstorm [...] Located along the center line of the damage swath (10.5 miles x 1.0 miles) were several swirl patterns of uprooted trees commonly seen in the wake of a slow-moving, large tornado. As the tornado crossed highway 59, it blew off a section of the pavement.
I went to the offices of the Winnipeg Free Press to find articles about this tornado, and could find no mention of it. However, I decided to skip ahead to the month of July, 1977 in the microfilm library and found detailed articles. Apparently, the date of June 18, 1977 Fujita specified in his work is incorrect.
I suspect the error was a result of Dr. Fujita being more accustomed to the traditional April-June tornado season in the United States. It was really cool to discover he had actually been here in Manitoba, conducting research in the painstaking fashion he became famous for, and adding to the large knowledge base of severe weather that became his legacy.
John
VE4 JTH
