Edmonton tornado

The Edmonton tornado, known as Black Friday to Edmontonians, was a powerful and devastating tornado that ripped through the eastern suburbs of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and parts of neighbouring Strathcona County on the afternoon of Friday, July 31, 1987. Six other tornadoes occurred in central Alberta the same day. The tornado peaked at F4 on the Fujita scale and remained on the ground for approximately an hour, cutting a swath of destruction 30.8 km (19.1 mi) long throughout Leduc County, the City of Edmonton, and surrounding Strathcona County. In some places, the damage swath of the tornado reached up to 1.3 km (0.81 mi) in width. The Edmonton tornado killed 27 people and injured more than 300. The tornado also destroyed more than 300 homes and caused more than $332.27 million (1987 CAD; equivalent to $796 million in 2025) in property damage, mainly at four disaster sites. The extent of loss of life, injuries, and destruction of property make the Edmonton tornado the worst natural disaster in Alberta's recent history, as well the second deadliest tornado in Canada's history, only behind the Regina Cyclone of 1912. For the Edmonton area, weather forecasts issued by Environment Canada during the morning and early afternoon of July 31, 1987 revealed a high potential for unusually severe thunderstorms. Upon being made aware of the first report of a tornado touchdown in Leduc County (which is immediately adjacent to Edmonton's southern boundary), Environment Canada responded swiftly, issuing successive warnings and closely monitoring the event.