Barrie tornado among Canada's top 10 weather events for 2021

A tornado that ripped through a Barrie community in July made Environment Canada's top 10 weather events for 2021.

"EF-2 tornadoes always occur in Canada. They're pretty powerful with anywhere from 178 to 220 km/h," said senior climatologist Dave Phillips.

"The big event was the destructive and powerful tornado that hit Barrie, Ontario," Phillips said.

The weather guru said the tornado was surprising because there was no "nature warning to it."

"It was like a sneak attack," Phillips added.

The EF-2 tornado hit a neighbourhood in the Prince William Way area in the afternoon of July 15 with 210km/h. The storm's track was 12 km in length and 600 m wide.

One hundred and ten homes were damaged, with 71 homes deemed unsafe.

And it wasn't the only tornado that struck that day.

"There was a family of seven of them," Phillips noted.

Six EF-2 strength tornadoes hit Ontario on July 15, including Innisfil, Kawartha Lakes, Little Britain, Manilla, Lindsay and Lake of Bays.

The Barrie tornado ranked sixth on Environment Canada's top 10 list:

1. Record heat under the dome
2. British Columbia's flood of floods
3. Canada dry coast to coast
4. Wildfire season – early, active and unrelenting
5. Canada rides out four heat waves
6. Year of the EF2 tornado
7. Dreaded Artic blast freezes Canada in February
8. Another hailer-flooder in Calgary
9. Hurricane Larry belonged to Newfoundland
10. January prairie clipper