Mystery solved: it was a tornado that touched down on Chaleur Bay

New Brunswick's first tornado of 2023 hit Chaleur Bay Saturday night.

David Sills, executive director of the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) at Western University in Ontario,said a series of thunderstorms in the Bathurst area on Saturday produced a "tornado over the water, otherwise known as a waterspout."

Sills said in this particular case, the tornado developed "without any rotation in the storm, which we would call a supercell thunderstorm."

"This is just a spin up underneath an isolated storm,"he said. "Certainly those can produce tornadoes."

Paul Michael, and his wife Jane, were sitting on a friend's deck overlooking Chaleur Bay at Youghall Beach watching a thunderstorm rolling in on Saturday evening.

"It was a pretty powerful looking thunderstorm heading our way big dark clouds, lightning,"he said.

Michael said he suddenly noticed a "commotion out in the water" about a quarter of a mile offshore and described it as water that "consolidated into two or three funnels swirling in a circle."

He captured the rare weather event on his phone.

WATCH | See what happened when a tornado touched down on Chaleur Bay:

Weather phenomenon was caught on video

1 year ago

Duration 0:45

An uncommon weather event unfolded off Youghall Beach in Bathurst, as Paul and Jane Michael enjoyed an evening on the deck. But what is it?

That video was sent to Sills at the NTP who examined it as part of the project's work collecting data about where tornadoes are occurring in Canada and their characteristics such as the length, width and strength.

Sills said the video showed a funnel cloud and a "spray vortex" that lasted several minutes.

"We are looking to see if there was any damage over land associated with this as well."

Sills said experts will examine high-resolution satellite imagery for evidence of "trees down or anything in that area."

"We're just waiting for a good day to show up on the satellite system we have."

Sills said Atlantic Canada has an average of oneor twotornadoes a year, but New Brunswick gets the most of any of the Atlantic provinces.

N.B. has potential for stronger tornadoes

Compared to Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador,New Brunswick has the "potential" to have stronger tornadoes because"it's connected to land mass."

Sills said thunderstorms that develop over the state of Maine, in northeastern United States, can move into New Brunswick or Quebec and those can be stronger.

"It's been kind of a quiet year in the Atlantic provinces and in Quebec,"he said.

"This is the first event in 2023 for any of the Atlantic provinces, be it a tornado or a downburst which produces damaging winds."

So far this year, he said the region is "below normal" for the number of tornadoes.

Sills said there "might" be a connection between the wildfires in Quebec this spring and summer and a "dampening" of thunderstorm activity and tornadoes.

"That still has to be studied," he said.

Although tornadoes are typically brief, lasting approximately fiveto 10 minutes, Sills said "any tornado is dangerous."

On land, a tornado will toss debris around, which is the "most dangerous to people."

Waterspouts are less dangerous because "there's not a lot to hit and there's very little debris," but Sills cautioned they are capable of overturning a boat on the water.

Sills said July is peak tornado season and he does not expect a big resurgence in tornado activity in the Atlantic provinces in August.

"But you know, Mother Nature is full of surprises."