Any memories of the '87 Tornado in Edmonton?

[rapid_business]

Was in Victoria on vacation with my family. We watched it unfold on TV.
My dad was (still is) a CFO of a pipe company on 17th, and the yard there got hit pretty hard. The funnel cloud actually picked up pieces of pipe and tore apart pieces of the office building. Pretty sure one went right through his window and tore the office to shreds. The trailer park where a bunch of people got killed (Maple Ridge) was right across the street.

[CanadianCentaur]

Originally Posted by towerguy3

There are apparently two types of funnel clouds, cold funnels and warm funnels. What is the difference in how they form? Do they appear different? And what exactly is a wall cloud?

A cold air funnel is just a weak and tight circulation which can occur out of any thunderstorm or rain cloud, often from a high cloud base. Condensation from low air pressure from the rapidly spinning column of air makes a funnel cloud visible. Cold air funnel clouds are so weak that they very rarely ever touch ground and become tornadoes. However, the tornado which hit Grande Prairie in July, 2004 in fact started out as an unusually large and strong cold air funnel.

If they occur over any body of water and touch water, they become waterspouts. Waterspouts are generally most common over subtropical/tropical waters, such as off Florida, but also occur in colder waters off BC and Atlantic Canada and lakes almost anywhere in Canada when conditions are right. There is really no such thing as a "warm" funnel.

A wall cloud is a significant, roughly round lowering attached to a rain-free base (also known as the updraft base) of a thunderstorm. They're most common in severe thunderstorms, particularly supercells, which are severe thunderstorms with rotating updrafts. Wall clouds in supercells will often be seen rotating persistently. Most strong/violent tornadoes come from supercells and a wall cloud is generally where a large funnel/tornado will drop down from. The rain-free base and wall cloud is usually located in the southwest side of a supercell.

Wall cloud with a tornado in Kansas, as taken by Mike Hollingshead, a storm chaser from Nebraska.


The 1987 tornado came out of a huge wall cloud, as can be seen below.

[ExcaliburKid]

^I cant believe how close it came to Esso. That would have been one huge mess had it hit the plant head on. It missed it by what, 2 maybe 3 city blocks?

[canucklehead2]

I remember that day like it was yesterday. I was four and my grandpa took my sister and I to the Abbottsfield McDonald's for milkshakes (I had a chocolate one) about 20 minutes before the Tornado it. It just felt really surreal and everything went dark very quick. We just got to my grandparents home in Montrose as the baseball-sized hail started coming down. My uncle went out and grabbed some just after the storm had passed, and we still have it in our freezer. We were headed to Calgary that day, but we had a hard time getting out of Edmonton, especially with the power being out...

[STRIDDER69]

Is this forum still active because I have an incredible story regarding the tornado......

[Hardhatdan]

Go on...

[tele75]

Please do tell..

[the.tru.albertan]

Hmm. Stridder never did tell his story.

I'll tell what I know about it tho. I wasn't around for it. I didn't even exist yet.

But my uncle (Class 1 driver) was hauling equipment thru Edmonton when the storm hit. He said he was on an overpass or something and had a clear view of the twister and baseball sized hail began bashing his truck up. The hail actually smashed the windshield right in. Pretty crazy.

[Landlocked]

Originally Posted by the.tru.albertan

Hmm. Stridder never did tell his story.

I'll tell what I know about it tho. I wasn't around for it. I didn't even exist yet.

But my uncle (Class 1 driver) was hauling equipment thru Edmonton when the storm hit. He said he was on an overpass or something and had a clear view of the twister and baseball sized hail began bashing his truck up. The hail actually smashed the windshield right in. Pretty crazy.

I'll contribute as well:

We had bits of insulation all over our yard in Rundle by the end of it. Had no clue what was happening other than a bad storm with green tinged clouds until we spotted what looked like a huge flock of seagulls (debris) way up in the sky. Two blocks away there was minor house damage, and right across the river there was a CN locomotive tossed into the river valley. The same afternoon we traveled by bike to Evergreen trailer park. A relative lived there and with phones out we wanted to verify they were OK. We couldn't find her place, as the front half of the park was decimated. Standing half'dazed near the stores at the park entrance we were ushered to the side so they could stretcher in the latest body to the make-shift morgue they'd set up in one of the unleased spaces. Won't forget it ever.

Also won't forget the previous day. Also really muggy and mid afternoon there was a single low and eerie tubular cloud that seemed to roll across the city, like some sort of harbinger for what was to come the following day. If I ever see a cloud like that again, we'll be sleeping in the basement that night.

[Mikemike]

I was 8, and was playing outside when we saw the darkest greenest skies ever. We kids hid in the little playfort we had under the stairs after mom told us that there was a tornado.

We were leaving on a 4-week summer vacation the next day(as I remember it, it could have been a couple days), and on the way out of town we drove through what I think was the hermitage area to drop off our house keys to some acquaintances of my parents who's home had been damaged so they could live at our place while we were gone. The damage made quite an impression on me - some houses untouched while the neighbours had roofs missing or windows blown out.

[McBoo]

Was in media and on-site at the trailer park when I ran across a survivor who had lost everything. Told him I had to talk to some people but stay where he was and I'd take him to a store and then hotel.

Good? Might have been, except he left on his own before I got back.

Saw him a year later at the anniversary. I said ...YOU. He said back ..YOU.

Had literally been thinking about this guy a whole year. So great to see him back on his feet.

[Hallsy's Toupee]

I was away on holidays with family at the time - I think we were on Vancouver Island, can't remember. Anyway, that evening we were driving somewhere and on the radio the DJ announced that a series of tornadoes had struck Edmonton and surrounding areas. Naturally we were rather freaked out and were worried about our property, neighbors and friends but we couldn't get more information - couldn't reach anyone via telephone, radio wasn't giving anything more and we had no TV. It wasn't until the next morning that we bought a newspaper and got the full story. We were relieved that our area was not affected but still shocked and saddened by all the death and devastation.

[lubicon]

I was in university at the time but working for the summer up near Red Earth. I remember the day being spectacularly beautiful - hot, sunny etc. Just a gorgeous summer day. Listening to CHED and began to hear the reports when the tornado struck and remember seeing the devastation on the news that evening and the next day, it was very sobering to see. talked to my GF that day or the next (I don't recall) as she was living in Edmonton but was near DT so was obviously okay. I also recall moving to Millwoods years later and there was a farm along 23rd Ave around 34 Street or maybe 17 Street, all the trees were cut in half about half way up their original height, it was like someone took a chainsaw to them and lopped them all off. I assume (but am not 100% sure) that the tornado and/or storm also did this as it came right up this stretch of land before hitting refinery row.

[kel]

I just started working my first part time job on Monday the beginning of the week at a shop off of 34th street not far from present day Gregg distributors. The day sky was as black as night and some of the tin on the shop roof blew off and it sounded like a thousand people pounding on the tin roof. To this day my anxiety level goes through the roof (no pun inteneded) anytime a summer storm is approaching. I ended up walking about an hour and a half home because the telephone lines where down and some roads where blocked off around the area I worked at.

[SHOFEAR]

For a few years after, it was a big deal to have a radio and supplies in the cold room in the basement and I recall a few big storms where we went down there. Even at the cabin or the inlaws cabin I have a place picked out that I think would be the best to ride out a tornado....do other people still have a plan in place?

[Landlocked]

Originally Posted by SHOFEAR

For a few years after, it was a big deal to have a radio and supplies in the cold room in the basement and I recall a few big storms where we went down there. Even at the cabin or the inlaws cabin I have a place picked out that I think would be the best to ride out a tornado....do other people still have a plan in place?

Let's put it this way. I'm still ticked that they got rid of the old air-raid sirens around the city. They'd have been invaluable for getting people's attention.

[Xelebes]

Originally Posted by lubicon

I assume (but am not 100% sure) that the tornado and/or storm also did this as it came right up this stretch of land before hitting refinery row.

My parents remember seeing that too.

[Coldrsx]

Moved here 30 years ago today, flew around the tornado. Pops was coming to run the weather service for Environment Canada. Couldn't get to our house in the SW, Westin was my first home here.

Incredibly memorable day.

[Black Star]

^Wow

[Airboy]

I was driving back from Vancouver that day. As I drove in from the west I commented on how much water was in the ditches along the road. The sky was still dark to the east and I heard on the radio that there were reports of damage on the east side. By the time I made it to St Albert a half hour later the reports had changed to major catastrophe in Edmonton.

The next day I had a chance to drive through the refinery row area and though I had my cameras with me I may have taken one shot. the rest of the time I was in shock as we drove through the area.

My wife was working at CJCA as the promo girl. She was working the phones when the first calls started coming in. She was on the phone for almost 24 hrs taking calls from crying people looking for loved ones or were calling in shock just to talk.

I had staff coming back to the office from Ft Sask and they saw the tornado hit Evergreen. I remember one of the guys saying they watched and didn't say anything just drove by.

Another staff member was on a project on the south side research park. they saw a fast moving dark cloud. they didn't know it was the tornado. the building they were in got hit by lightning twice that afternoon.

And in St Albert it was a sunny afternoon.