(London) Western University researchers say they have confirmed a fire-caused tornado occurred in British Columbia this summer, after a video of the “rarely observed” event went viral in August .
In a blog post, researchers from the Northern Tornadoes Project at the university in London, Ont., say they launched a thorough investigation after the release of video showing an “intense vortex” above Gun Lake, in the southwest British Columbia, during a “raging nighttime wildfire.”
They say the investigation was very careful, as this is the first case of a fire-generated tornado recorded by the Northern Tornadoes Project research team.
The post states that the investigation required the assistance of witnesses, who were able to determine the time and location of the fire tornado on the north shore of Gun Lake around 4:45 a.m. on the morning of August 18.
Researchers say the terminology around the phenomenon is “still developing,” but they said the Gun Lake event was a “real tornado” rather than a short-lived so-called “fire whirlwind.”
The Northern Tornadoes Project says the “pyro-tornado” is the first documented by the project, which was established in 2017, and may be the “most carefully documented” example in Canada to date.