Edmonton Tornado

Edmonton Tornado

The Edmonton tornado of 1987, an event also known as Black Friday to Edmontonians, was a powerful and devastating tornado that ripped through the eastern part of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and parts of neighbouring Strathcona County on the afternoon of Friday, July 31, 1987.

The tornado remained on the ground for an hour, cutting a swath of destruction 40 kilometres (25 mi) long and up to a kilometre (0.6 miles, or 3000 feet) wide in places, and peaking at F4 on the Fujita scale. The tornado killed 27 people, injured more than 300 people, destroyed more than 300 homes, and caused more than $332.27 million CAD ($581 million in 2012 dollars) in property damage at four major disaster sites. The loss of life, injuries and destruction of property made it the worst natural disaster in Alberta's recent history and one of the worst in Canada's history.

Weather forecasts issued during the morning and early afternoon of July 31, 1987 for Edmonton revealed a recognition by Environment Canada of a high potential for unusually severe thunderstorms that afternoon. Environment Canada responded swiftly upon receipt of the first report of a tornado touchdown from a resident of Leduc County which is immediately adjacent to Edmonton's southern boundary. At least four other tornadoes were reported that day in central Alberta between Millet and Vegreville.