Tornado warning lifted for southwestern New Brunswick

Environment Canada lifted its tornado warning for southwestern New Brunswick about half an hour after it was issued Saturday afternoon.

Residents in Grand Lake, Queens County, Oromocto and Sunbury County were encouraged to take extra caution.

Doppler radar indicated a potential tornado could occur about 25 kilometres south-southeast of Boistown.

Heavy winds, larger hail and intense rainfall are possible over the region. 

Doug Mercer, lead meteorologist at the Atlantic Storm Prediction Centre, said around mid-afternoon Saturday he noticed a thunderstorm headed toward Chipman on the radar that indicated a deep level of rotation commonly associated with a tornado warning.

“When we issued it … the storm was moving east southeast in the general direction of Chipman at about 60 km/h. We followed it for about 20 or 30 minutes and at that point we didn’t see any indication of the rotation associated with a tornado, and then we ended the warning.”

Mercer said his team checks every “interesting thunderstorm in the province” every 10 minutes. Meteorologists are continuing to watch the storms in New Brunswick but say a resurgence is unlikely today.

“It was in about the right place in the storm where you might expect a tornado, so we didn’t want to risk it, we issued the warning just to be safe,” Mercer said.

“The good news is that it was in an area where there are very few communities and the thing died before it got to Chipman.”

Heat warnings remain in effect and Environment Canada says there may be severe thunderstorms in some parts of the province.

A cold front crossing the province will bring an increasing number of thundershowers, with local downpours and heavy winds.

Temperatures are expected to return to near normal overnight.