Veteran storm chaser captures video of another N.S. tornado
Chris Hill spent several decades chasing storms south of the border, including massive tornadoes in the notorious “Tornado Alley.”
Now, Hill has captured Nova Scotia’s second confirmed tornado in a month on video, this time in the Musquodoboit Valley.
It all started when he began chasing a storm system July 22.
“I noticed that at 300 millibars, the upper jet was really strong,” he explains. “Like it had been on previous days where I had seen mesocyclones. And so I knew the jet was strong.”
It’s clear Hill knows his storms – a mesocyclone is a common precursor to tornados, in which a vortex of air begins to rapidly rotate within a thunderstorm.
“I thought, nice surface warming temperatures, a lot of moist dew point…and then just a screamin’ jet that’s negatively tilted,” he adds.
“And I said, the angle of flow is (the) perfect angle for convection to put off a twisting storm, which it did.”
That’s how Hill, with his wife and his mother-in-law in the van with him, ended up following the dark, churning clouds in the area to Antrim Road.
There, he found himself right in front of a twister.
“I did not expect to come right around the corner and to suddenly see that tornado right in front of us.”
In the video, Hill quickly brings the vehicle to a halt, as the cone of rotating cloud passes through the woods and across the gravel road in front of them.
“Don’t move,” Hill says in the video, which lasts 51 seconds before the rotation disappears from view.
“I think what it was doing, it was hopscotching, where it would spin up, touch down for a bit, kind of go up and re-form, and then touch down,” he says.
To confirm what Hill saw, CTV News sent the video and photos he took to the experts at the Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University, which is tracking tornado activity in Canada.
The project’s executive director, atmospheric scientist David Sills, says the video does indeed show a twister.
“Definitely a tornado associated with what looks like a compact supercell thunderstorm,” says Sills in a Zoom interview from London, Ontario.
Sills says the tornado was likely weak, as it didn’t seem to do significant damage in the area.
Hill did look for signs of destruction near the site afterward but couldn’t find any close to the road.
“It probably did not do a lot of damage,” says Sills. “It was probably a lot more bark than bite in this case.”
Even so, it’s not what Hill expected to find after moving to Nova Scotia from the U.S. five years ago.
“I thought it would be really rare, like I would go out a dozen times in a year, maybe see one or two mesocyclones,” he says. “Let alone filming one at close range.”
It's not the province’s first tornado this year
Hill also chased a significant one on June 30 – the same one that leveled a barn in Stewiacke.
That event was confirmed as a tornado by the Northern Tornadoes Project and Environment Canada days later.
That type of event is the reason why the Northern Tornadoes Project is tracking tornado activity across the country.
“It’s been a long time since Nova Scotia has seen a tornado, let alone two tornadoes,” says Sills. “It’s just that pattern that we’re in, that the Eastern part of Canada is getting a lot of storm activity.”
For Chris Hill, that means likely more storms to chase ahead.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW From yearning for a change to cost of living, why some Canadians have left or may leave the country
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
Here are the ultraprocessed foods you most need to avoid, according to a 30-year study
Studies have shown that ultraprocessed foods can have a detrimental impact on health. But 30 years of research show they don’t all have the same impact.
NEW Capital gains tax change 'shortsighted' and 'sows division' business groups tell Freeland
Forging ahead with increasing Canada's capital gains inclusion rate 'sows division,' and is a 'shortsighted' way to improve the deficit, business groups are warning Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Ontario man frustrated after $3,500 paving job leaves driveway in shambles
An Ontario man considering having his driveway paved received a quote from a company for $7,000, but then, another paver in the neighbourhood knocked on his door and offered half that rate.
Defence attacks Stormy Daniels' credibility as she returns to the stand in Trump's hush money trial
Stormy Daniels will return to the witness stand Thursday in Donald Trump's hush money trial as the defence tries to undermine the credibility of the porn actor's salacious testimony about their alleged sexual encounter and the money she was paid to keep quiet.
With contactless screening tech, this Toronto startup hopes to catch breast cancer early — and save lives
Amid evidence of rising breast cancer rates among young women in Canada, one Toronto startup is offering a contactless and radiation-free device that can help doctors identify suspicious changes in breast tissue. The company, Linda Lifetech, says this can lead to earlier detection of breast cancer.
Tornadoes tear through southeastern U.S. as storms leave 3 dead
Forecasters warned a wave of dangerous storms in the U.S. could wash over parts of the South early Thursday, a day after severe weather with damaging tornadoes and large hail killed at least three people in the region.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.