Amanda Vaughan
Northern News Services
Published Monday, August 13, 2007

RAE-EDZO - Chris Sanderson was on his way to from Fort Providence to Yellowknife on July 20 when he looked out the window of his truck and saw what looked like a tornado, reaching towards the ground from the clouds.

A funnel cloud was spotted in late July by Chris Sanderson of Fort Providence on the highway outside of Behchoko. - photo courtesy of Chris Sanderson

According to Sanderson, he had just passed through a thunderstorm, and had stopped to check a few things on his truck. Shortly after returning to the drive, he saw the cloud.

It appeared to not touch the ground, and was travelling parallel to Hwy. 3 near Behchoko. He stopped to take a few pictures, and then it disappeared after he was back on his way.

"It was really, really windy, but not enough to blow a person over or anything," Sanderson said of the weather surrounding the cloud.

He said it had been very hot in Providence before he left, and that he had driven through a couple of stormy locations along the highway before encountering the potential funnel cloud.

Sanderson said he has never seen anything like it in his life.

"And I have lived in the North my whole life," he added.

He said he has heard secondhand accounts of tornado-like activity in the territory before, and had even heard from people in his hometown that there had been funnel cloud warnings that very day.

"Before I left Providence, I said to myself, yeah right, funnel clouds, and then went on my way," Sanderson laughed.

But according to Yvonne Bilan-Wallace, an Edmonton-based meteorologist with Environment Canada, a twister isn't inconceivable in the territory.

"The topography of the Northwest Territories is definitely similar to that of Alberta," Bilan-Wallace said. "It's a reality that tornadoes are possible in the North."

She and some of her colleagues at Environment Canada reviewed Sanderson's pictures, and they were unable to confirm that what he saw was a funnel cloud.

"Unfortunately, we would need more evidence about the exact conditions surrounding the cloud," Bilan-Wallace said.

She said they need to get an idea of how fast it was rotating and moving, among other things. According to Bilan-Wallace, the meteorologists at Environment Canada were split on the assessment.

"Some of them thought it wasn't, and others thought it was possibly a funnel," she said, but added that none of them were positive that it was. There are other weather phenomenon associated with storms that can appear to be funnel clouds.

Since Sanderson said the cloud did not appear to touch the ground, Bilan-Wallace said it would definitely not be considered a tornado, as ground contact is a necessity for tornado status. As for the funnel, only the clouds know for sure.

"We depend heavily on weather watchers and radar for identification of most unusual weather in Alberta," said Bilan-Wallace. "We just don't get that many reports from the NWT."

She also added that the ground radar stations in the territory are few and far between, some even unmanned, and that satellite images would not indicate something like what Sanderson saw.

"We're not saying it's not possible though. The conditions were definitely right, though," she said, adding the thunderstorm activity in the area and the high dew points on that day are some of the factors that could create a funnel.