Tornado hit eastern P.E.I. during Wednesday’s storm, Environment Canada says

Waterspout also confirmed near Rollo Bay, says Northern Tornadoes Project

Environment Canada has confirmed evidence that eastern P.E.I. saw a tornado during Wednesday's storm.

The mid-afternoon storm brought high winds, hail, rain, thunder and lightning to parts of the province. People in the Little Harbour area, near Souris, captured video of what appeared to be a tornado throwing trees into the air.

Environment Canada said in a statement Thursday that weather information it gathered in collaboration with the Northern Tornadoes Project confirms a "tornadic event."

"It’s a pretty impressive video of the tornado there at Little Harbour. It’s not something we see a lot of," said David Sills, director of the Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University in Ontario.

"It’s certainly good that it just hit some trees and didn’t get into houses. That kind of strength of a vortex, that kind of tornado, can certainly injure someone. So really good that everybody stayed away and it didn’t do that much harm."

RAW VIDEO: Possible tornado spotted in eastern P.E.I.

That was one of two separate events in eastern P.E.I. that radar and video evidence point to, Sills said.

The second occurred over Rollo Bay. It stayed entirely over the water and is considered a waterspout.

The Northern Tornadoes Project has given the Little Harbour weather event a preliminary EF0 rating on the Enhanced Fujita scale, based on tree damage. EF0 is the lowest level on the scale.

Because no damage has been reported from the Rollo Bay event, Sills said it also receives a default EF0 rating.

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Normally, Sills said, investigators would need "eyes on the ground" to study the damage and determine whether the event was a tornado or a downburst.

"In this case, we have so much video and photo evidence that people captured of these two tornadoes that it's not likely that we'll need to send anybody," he said.

"We've got everything we need pretty much."

Tornadoes over land are a rare occurrence on the Island, said CBC meteorologist Jay Scotland.

"The last tornado to occur on P.E.I. looks to be back in 2007 in the Crapaud area," he said.

"In recent memory, the most notable tornado goes back to July 3, 1974 in the North River area west of Charlottetown. Public Safety Canada has that storm listed in its Canadian Disaster Database."

CBC meteorologist Tina Simpkin said Wednesday’s storm with orange-level severe thunderstorm warnings, high winds and hail is another reminder that Islanders need to be more prepared for severe weather.

"We all know that our weather is changing. We all know that global warming is affecting our weather one way or another," she said. "Our storms are getting stronger.… It’s the time of extremes."

She pointed out that in places like the U.S. Midwest, tornado safety is drilled so regularly that even young kids know the routine when a warning is issued. Islanders, she said, may need to build the same kind of habits.

"We are going to have to start getting storm-ready for the future," she said, adding people should have emergency kits and plans in place. "It takes away the anxiety because you know what to do, and it’s just good preparation."

Thinh Nguyen is a digital reporter with CBC P.E.I. He can be reached at thinh.duc.nguyen@cbc.ca