What was the Black Friday Tornado?
The Black Friday tornado, also known as the Edmonton Tornado, is the most memorable twister within the outbreak of eight that dropped in a single day in Alberta in 1987 in a storm that also spawned tennis ball-sized hail, with some witnesses saying that there were hailstones about 10 cm across. It was a very powerful F4 tornado, making it by far the most powerful out of the eight. In addition to hitting Edmonton, it also hit the municipality of Strathcona County, located just east of Edmonton. It is the second most powerful tornado in Canadian history, behind only the 2007 Elie Tornado, infamous for being the only F5 in Canada. The Black Friday Tornado is also the second deadliest tornado in Canadian history, behind only the Regina Tornado of 1912.
In the time leading up to the storm, there certainly were signs that something large was coming. There had been 14 other tornadoes spread throughout all of Alberta in the five days leading up to the twister, and severe thunderstorm warnings were issued, with statements about how there was an increased risk of tornadic activity. With Edmonton also being part of Canada’s tornado alley, it should not be surprising that storms like this are possible in the city.
When did the Black Friday Tornado happen?
The Black Friday Tornado occurred on the afternoon of Friday, July 31, 1987.
What time did the Black Friday Tornado happen?
The Black Friday Tornado first touched down at around 3:00 PM.
How long did the Black Friday tornado last?
Although exact times vary, it is estimated that the Black Friday tornado stayed on the ground for approximately an hour. The outbreak of tornadoes it was a part of lasted much longer. At 2:48, Leduc County resident Tom Taylor, who noticed the first twister reported a “rope-like funnel,” and the outbreak lasted until around 8:00 PM that night.
How powerful was the Black Friday Tornado?
At its most powerful, the Black Friday tornado was recorded as having wind speeds of 418 km/h (260 mph), which puts it right at the very top of what would be considered an F4 tornado. Eyewitnesses commonly described the tornado as sounding “like a freight train”.
Edward Lozowski, a former professor of earth and atmospheric sciences said that the twister “looked like a monster” and described it as appearing black.
Since it was able to flatten industrial buildings, there is speculation that it might have reached F5 speed, but since there is no official measuring of the winds being that powerful, it remains listed as an F4.
What is an F4 Tornado?
An F4 tornado is the second most powerful type of tornado according to the Fujita Scale, which grades tornadoes from F0 to F5. The Fujita Scale, which was introduced in 1971 by meteorologist Ted Fujita, was used in America up until 2007, and Canada up until 2013, when both were replaced by the more modern Advanced Fujita Scale.
An F4 tornado has wind speeds from 333 km/h (207 mph) to 418 km/h (260 mph), which matches the fastest wind speed that the Black Friday Tornado had at its peak. This means that if the winds had been even 1 km/h faster, it would have been considered an F5 tornado, the most powerful categorization possible.
It should be noted that when the Fujita Scale was used, almost 45% of tornadoes are an F0, and almost 80% are either F0 or F1. Only about 1% of tornadoes reach F4 status, and 67 tornadoes in history have been recorded at either an F5 or an EF5, which is the F5 equivalent according to the advanced Fujita scale. Since there were no F5 tornadoes recorded in all of 1987, and the Black Friday tornado was the highest an F4 tornado could go, that means that this twister was the most powerful tornado of 1987.
What path did the Black Friday Tornado take?
The Black Friday tornado moved slower than most other twisters of similar intensity, moving from southeastern Edmonton to northeast Edmonton. As it travelled, it hit, in order, Mill Woods residential area, Strathcona Industrial Park, and Evergreen Mobile Home Park Court. It travelled just over 30 km and was 1.3 km wide at its largest.
How much damage did the Black Friday Tornado do?
The Black Friday tornado caused over $332 million in damages at the time. This is in the form of over 300 homes destroyed, numerous vehicles picked up and hurled through the air, destroyed freight trains, destroyed heavy equipment including oil tanks, flattened industrial buildings, and did an unknowable amount of damage to people’s possessions.
How many people did the Black Friday Tornado kill and injure?
Unfortunately, unlike the more powerful 2007 Elie tornado, the Black Friday tornado killed people. Its first 12 victims were killed in Strathcona Industrial Park, with 15 others later losing their lives at Evergreen Mobile Home Park Court, for a total of 27 deaths, although earlier estimates incorrectly claimed that up to 33 people had perished. It injured over 300 others at these locations and others.
What were the other tornadoes in the outbreak?
Seven other tornadoes spawned the same day as the Black Friday tornado. Out of these, four of them were rated an F0, one was an F1, and 2 were rated as an F2. The most damaging one of these was an F2 that touched down between Millet and Vegreville and did $40,000 worth of damage. The lack of damage by the other tornadoes was partially due to their weaker strength, and also because most of their time was spent in unpopulated areas, a safe distance from where people lived and worked.
What was the response to the Black Friday Tornado?
After the Black Friday Tornado, Alberta’s government successfully proposed the Emergency Public Warning System that could be used by Environment Canada and emergency services such as police and firefighters. It was meant to communicate to citizens clearly, as many citizens stated that they received a variety of different, conflicting warnings based on what was said by individual TV and radio stations during the event. This warning system was later replaced by the Alberta Emergency Alert, which was then replaced by the Alberta Emergency Alert in 2011. This now works similarly to Amber Alerts, in that they can also be alarms activated on people’s phones.
It also led to the adoption of Doppler weather radar in Canada. Overall, Edmonton clearly learned from the large amount of damage and loss of life and is taking steps to ensure such a disaster never happens again.