Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) confirmed a tornado touched down in Brossard on Montreal’s South Shore Wednesday night, overturning an 18-wheeler truck, uprooting several trees and causing damage to infrastructure.
The twister formed around 8:12 p.m., the federal agency wrote in a statement Thursday morning.
It hit near Matte Boulevard, said Longueuil police spokesperson Mélanie Mercille, who added the driver of the semi-trailer suffered minor injuries.
Researchers with Western University’s Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) are expected in Brossard Thursday morning to inspect the damage.
ECCC says an investigation into tornado-like activity Wednesday in the Laurentians, Boucherville and on a farm in Portneuf near Quebec City will also take place.
Meteorologist Katarina Radovanovic said there are several factors to consider when evaluating a tornado, saying it is identified by either the type of damage it does or the intensity of the winds.
“So we’re going to look at the damages of the structures or what was broken,” she said.
Heavy rain swept across southern Quebec Wednesday evening, particularly in Montreal, the Laurentians, Lanaudière and the Montérégie.