A potential waterfall was seen above Lac des Deux Montagnes on Sunday, while violent storms and hail episodes pounded greater Montreal.
“I thought it was a tornado. I shouted: “Go, let’s close the umbrellas! It’s coming to others!” My heart was struggling,” says Marie-Michel Picard, owner of Gîte Le 308 in Oga in Laurentians.
Shortly before 4 p.m., she saw winds moving over Lac des Deux Montagnes for at least two minutes.
Photo courtesy of MARIE-MICHÈLE PICARD
“It started in front of the ferry on the Hudson [de l’autre côté du lac] It came to Oga. Just before crossing the lake, it faded.
She was not the only witness as several videos of the event started circulating on social networks.
According to Environment Canada meteorologist Gerardo Velonza, it has all the makings of a waterfall.
Dangerous in water
“It forms above the water. We have a kind of eddy that forms when cold air moves over warm water,” Mr. Velonza explains.
According to the latter, bodies above water, such as boats, are particularly dangerous because they usually disintegrate when they hit the ground.
It was also a watershed for the deaths of seven people aboard a ship that capsized off Sicily, Italy, on August 18-19.
Mr. Velonza insists that waterspouts are not rare in Quebec, but because there are few witnesses to seeing them in waterways.
Thunderstorms and hail
The event occurred while a severe storm watch was in effect for several areas of Quebec, including Montreal, Monterrey, Laurentians and Mauritius.
1cm hail fell, including some in the Lac des Deux Montagnes area, Mr. Velonza noted the reports.
“Winds of up to 90 kmph are possible,” he warns.
