A severe thunderstorm lit up Toronto's skies last night and the views are nuts
Summer may be on the way out, but Toronto experienced a late-season blast of severe weather overnight in the form of a dramatic thunderstorm that lit up city skies with near-constant lightning strikes.
Rain + lightning #Toronto pic.twitter.com/6np6RHbDFU
— Mark Slapinski (@MarkSlapinski) September 15, 2021
Environment Canada issued severe thunderstorm watches and warnings for the Greater Toronto Area on Tuesday night, and it didn't take long for the storm to bring some major voltage to the night sky.
@CityNatasha quite the light show in downtown Toronto last night pic.twitter.com/k1VodGsTas
— michael (@michael76998342) September 15, 2021
One video recorded over just a twenty-minute span managed to capture half a dozen lightning strikes on the CN Tower, which has become somewhat of a holy grail for storm photographers in Toronto.
I’ve always wanted to catch lightening hitting the CN Tower on camera. Tonight, I saw it SIX TIMES in less than 20 minutes. Please excuse my gleeful screeching and gasping. 🤣⚡️⛈ #onstorm @CityNews pic.twitter.com/ye2HX8mHs8
— Dilshad Burman (@DilshadBurman) September 15, 2021
It seemed many phones and cameras were trained on the CN Tower, resulting in some unbelievably spectacular videos of the blinding flashes striking the tallest freestanding structure in the Western Hemisphere.
#rainy nights in #toronto #cntower @blogTO pic.twitter.com/k5WKhygivW
— JBernardo VeCanela (@bernard57693403) September 15, 2021
Even Aura, a building maligned for its cheesy design and what could be the worst mall in Toronto, manages to impress in this Blade Runner-esque shot.
The #CNTower was lit last night. #ShareYourWeather #toronto #Lightning pic.twitter.com/GGQr7rc4mH
— Will (@will_hubb) September 15, 2021
The views were just as spectacular from a distance, with this video captured from outside of downtown showing an absolutely massive lightning strike momentarily illuminating the full skyline.
#Lightning struck the CN Tower - Toronto - Canada. pic.twitter.com/liSmlbgNMa
— Aleksander Onishchuk (@Brave_spirit81) September 15, 2021
As impressive as things were in Toronto, the storm hit other parts of Southern Ontario much harder. This ominous cloud spotted near Walkerton is pretty terrifying, looking like a scene from the U.S.' Tornado Alley.
A pano look at the storm near Walkerton yesterday. I thought it was going to drop a tornado right in front of us. It likely would have missed the town, but it would have been very close. Very scary for Walkerton. @weathernetwork #ONStorm pic.twitter.com/a43od4nw7I
— Mark Robinson (@StormhunterTWN) September 15, 2021
Out in Sauble Beach, the storm showed off its more destructive side, pummeling the area with hail that brought property damage.
The hail absolutely destroyed the gazebo at our trailer 😂😭 #ONstorm pic.twitter.com/XU9r4avz5k
— ℌ𝔞𝔶𝔩𝔢𝔶 ☾ (@hailormars) September 14, 2021
With summer drawing to a close, we may not get many more — if any — thunderstorms for 2021, though storm watchers in the city have had plenty of fireworks to watch this season.
Join the conversation Load comments