© Noah Ditkofsky
Half of the country's population was left reeling on Friday as wind gusts in excess of 100 km/h blasted through southern Ontario and southern Quebec, carving a path of destruction along the entirety of the 401 corridor, and leaving at least two dead.
The winds intensified through the afternoon hours, as a
rapidly-deepening low pressure system raced into the region, allowing winds from higher than usual in the atmosphere to work their way down to the surface. Known as a 'sting jet' because of the appearance of the associated cloud shape visible on satellite - it looks like a scorpion's tail - these winds are some of the strongest we ever see with storms across North America, aside from those in tornadoes and hurricanes. And they certainly lived up to their stinging moniker on Friday.
At least two fatalities have been reported in the wake of the storm. One person was killed and another hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after a tree fell on two tree removal contractors at 20 Side Road and Fourth Line in the Milton/Halton Hills area.
"One suffered catastrophic injuries at the scene, and was pronounced there," Halton Police Staff Sgt. Jeff Foster told The Weather Network. "The second has been transported to Hamilton General Hospital with life-threatening injuries after the fire department extricated him from the tree that was pinning them down."
Comment: In nearby India on the same day a single bolt killed 4 in West Bengal while a woman was fatally hit in Madurai on Tuesday.