Tornado warning issued for Kingston

Tornado warning issued for Kingston

Yellow thunderstorm watch issued for Ottawa-Gatineau and a large swath of eastern Ontario

Environment Canada says its meteorologists are tracking a severe thunderstorm with the potential of producing a tornado in the Kingston, Ont., area.

The weather agency issued a red tornado warning for Kingston and the surrounding area on Tuesday at 12:46 p.m. ET.

Red is the highest level on Environment Canada's three-colour scale, indicating life-threatening weather that could cause extreme disruption.

Severe thunderstorm watch issued for Ottawa-Gatineau

Earlier in the day, Environment Canada issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the Ottawa-Gatineau area.

The weather agency said Tuesday morning that conditions are favourable for the development of severe thunderstorms that may be capable of producing strong wind gusts, large hail and heavy rain.

The storm could start this morning into this afternoon and possibly early this evening, the agency said.

The area could see wind gusts up to 110 km/h, golf ball-sized hail and 50 millimetres or more of rain, according to the watch.

The watch covers a large swath of eastern Ontario. Another yellow thunderstorm watch is in effect for parts of western Quebec.

The watch is yellow, the lowest level on Environment Canada's three-level scale.

Local utility outages are also possible, the agency warned.