The massive tornado that roared across the Canadian province of Manitoba late Monday was on the ground for nearly 3 hours — likely one of the longest-lasting on record in Canada and perhaps the world. No injuries or deaths were reported.
The longest tornado recorded is the infamous Tri-State tornado that lasted for about 3.5 hours, ravaging the Midwest in March 1925 and leaving hundreds of people dead in its wake.
"The path length distance of the Manitoba tornado might be shorter, but the duration may be comparable," Randy Cerveny, rapporteur of climate and weather extremes for the World Meteorological Organization , said, referring to reports that the Canadian tornado may not have moved as far distance wise as the 1925 twister.
The tornado tore a path through rural southwest Manitoba, reported Environment Canada , the Canadian version of the USA's National Weather Service . While it damaged trees, power poles, farms and roads, it missed every town in its path.
"This was probably one of the longest on the ground tornadoes we have had in Manitoba or on the Prairies," Natalie Hasell, Environment Canada’s warning preparedness meteorologist, told the Winnipeg Free Press .
David Wills, an expert on tornadoes with Environment Canada, said if it is determined that the tornado was on the ground for three hours, "that would likely be among the longest tornado tracks in Canada ... Perhaps the longest," he told the Winnipeg newspaper.
Environment Canada meteorologist Mike Macdonald called it a "rare" event because tornadoes rarely stay on the ground longer than a few minutes in Canada.
"To be on the ground for 2½ to three hours is phenomenal ... and to miss everything is basically a miracle," he told the CBC.
The tornado was part of a wild weather system that brought also snow and cold to parts of the U.S. Rocky Mountains and ferocious winds and accumulating hail to the northern Plains.
