On June 17, 1946, the most powerful
tornado to strike
Windsor, Ontario, moved through the town at F4 intensity. The tornado touched down near
River Rouge, Michigan, then crossed the
Detroit River and made
landfall in the
Brighton Beach neighbourhood of Windsor. It then cut across southern Windsor and northern Sandwich West Township, Ontario (now the Municipality of
LaSalle, Ontario), along a path in length. It also cut across
Highway 3 before weakening somewhat. The storm then touched down as an F4 again at the modern-day intersection of
Walker Road and
Grand Marais Road
Grand Marais Road (French for "Big Marsh Road") is a road that travels through Windsor, Ontario. Its use and significance has dwindled considerably following the completion of the E.C. Row Expressway.
History
The intersection with Walker Road i ...
, near the center of the city.
Path of destruction
The tornado took a northeastward path, cutting through farmland and forest, an area with few housing subdivisions (at the time, but still many homes), and narrowly missing
Windsor Airport (which was located just south of the tornado), before tearing through the northwest part of the Town of
Tecumseh, Ontario and dissipating over
Lake St. Clair
Lake St. Clair (french: Lac Sainte-Claire) is a freshwater lake that lies between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan. It was named in 1679 by French Catholic explorers after Saint Clare of Assisi, on whose feast day ...
.
The storm's path was roughly wide, and followed
Turkey Creek for much of its length after crossing the
Detroit River, and travelled 60 km. The storm's damage ranged from F3–F4, to some “marginal” F5 damage from completely destroyed houses that were lifted off their foundations.
Since the tornado had cut power to The
Windsor Star's main printing offices downtown the ''
Detroit News'' offered to help them print their newspapers at their printing facilities until the ''Stars were repaired, and even gave the ''Star'' priority so they could report the news of the tornado to the cities of Windsor, Detroit, and the rest of Ontario.
The tornado knocked out power to most of the city for about a day, and damaged or destroyed roughly 400 homes in Windsor.
Radio reports
Although
a Windsor-based radio station broadcast to the areas affected by the tornado, there are no recordings in the archives regarding this tornado.
CBC Toronto is the only radio station that has kept its archives for the reports on this event. CBC Archives helps to explain what happened in Windsor on the day it was struck by the tornado as well as the day after. The report explains what happened, how many were killed, how citizens felt, and even what was stolen and who came out to help. Additionally, many reports were made to explain how the tornado was formed. The reports also contain interviews of people who viewed the tornado firsthand.
Aftermath
After the tornado, civility and order were quickly restored by the police. Many accounts of the tornado were told over the radio (notably,
CKLW, which was Windsor's CBC radio affiliate at the time), and the
Ontario Provincial Government even explained the conditions that are favourable for
tornado development, to alleviate the public's fears of an "
epidemic of tornadoes", especially since one week later, a tornado struck the towns of
Fort Frances
Fort Frances is a town in, and the seat of, Rainy River District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The population as of the 2016 census was 7,739. Fort Frances is a popular fishing destination. It hosts the annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Cham ...
and
International Falls.
It was also just half a mile from the same spot the
Windsor Tornado of 1974 touched down.
17 people died as a result of the tornado, including Waldo Beaman, his brother Milo Beaman, Waldo's new bride Sylvia Hillier-Beaman and their unborn child Oakley Beaman who doctors tried but failed to save.
See also
*
Tornadoes of 1946
This page documents the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1946, primarily in the United States. Most recorded tornadoes form in the U.S., although some events may take place internationally. Tornado statistics for older years like this often appe ...
**
List of United States tornadoes in 1946
This page documents all the known tornadoes that touched down in the United States during 1946. Tornadoes which occurred in the United States prior to 1950 are not officially rated. Tornado expert Thomas P. Grazulis rated significant tornadoes, t ...
*
List of tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
*
List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
**
List of F4 and EF4 tornadoes
This is a list of tornadoes which have been officially or unofficially labeled as F4, EF4, IF4, or an equivalent rating. These scales – the Fujita scale, the Enhanced Fujita scale, the International Fujita scale, and the TORRO tornado inten ...
*
List of Canadian tornadoes
*
List of tornadoes striking downtown areas
References
External links
Environment Canada account of the tornado with additional clips from The Windsor Star* [http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/environment/extreme-weather/deadly-skies-canadas-most-destructive-tornadoes/weather-expert-explains-the-1946-windsor-tornado.html The Windsor Tornado – CBC Archives]
Yahoo! - Canada's third deadliest tornado hit Windsor, Ontario in 1946
{{DEFAULTSORT:1946-06-17 Windsor-Tecumseh, Ontario Tornado
F4 tornadoes by date
Windsor-Tecumseh, Ontario,1946-06-17
1946 in Canada
Tornadoes of 1946
History of Windsor, Ontario
1946-06-17,River Rouge
Tornadoes in Canada by date
Windsor-Tecumseh, Ontario,1946-06-17
1946 in Ontario
Windsor-Tecumseh, Ontario Tornado
Windsor-Tecumseh, Ontario Tornado