Two weak tornadoes touched down in a rural area northeast of Edmonton on an evening when a severe thunderstorm swept across Alberta.
The storms on Monday, May 26, started in the Alberta foothills before moving northeast across the Prairies.
It rolled through Edmonton around the supper hour and moved north, where two twisters touched down in the Lac La Biche region near Plamondon.
Both tornadoes travelled northeast, leaving two long, narrow paths of damage that included a partial roof removal from a home and many snapped and uprooted trees.
According to Western University’s Northern Tornadoes Project, the first EF1 tornado touched down around 7 p.m. near Atmore.
Damage to homes near Atmore and Rossian (north of Plamondon) along with tree damage was reported after a storm passed through the area. No injuries were reported.
A Northern Tornadoes Project crew did a ground and drone survey the next day, documenting the weak damage.
It’s estimated the EF1 tornado came with wind speeds of about 175 km/h, left a path of damage about 300 metres wide and 21 km long.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
That twister ripped off part of a home’s roof and flattened trees.
The second EF1 twister touched down around 7:25 p.m. near Avenir.
The Northern Tornadoes Project said satellite imagery review revealed a narrow path of tree damage near Avenir.
That twister wasn’t as strong: it had an estimated maximum wind speed of 150 km/h. It’s path of damage was about 370 metres wide and 6.43-kilometres mong.
Flattened trees from a weak EF1 tornado near Avenir, Alta. on Monday, May 26, 2025.
Courtesy: Western University Northern Tornadoes Project
At the time, Environment Canada said the severe thunderstorms in Alberta were capable of producing up to toonie-size hail and heavy rain.
This is not the first twister of the season in Alberta — Canada’s first tornado of 2025 touched down near Brooks, Alta. on Saturday, April 12.
Unlike the dozens of devastating supercell tornadoes that have struck the U.S. in this spring, Environment Canada said the one in southern Alberta saw was a landspout — which is a much weaker type of tornado and the most common type in Alberta.
There were 129 tornados across Canada in 2024, according to NTP, with 60 of those occurring in Ontario.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.