A file image of a tornado.<\/p>\n
Phones, TVs, and radios blasted emergency alerts to residents in parts of the Greater Toronto Area over the weekend.<\/p>\n
Western areas of the GTA, including Milton, Oakville, and Mississauga, were placed under a tornado warning on Saturday as a severe storm moved through the area.<\/p>\n
Residents were told to take \u201cimmediate cover\u201d in a basement or interior room if severe weather approached.<\/p>\n
But did a tornado actually occur?<\/p>\n
Some images circulated online after the storm claiming to show a tornado in the GTA.<\/p>\n
INsauga.com reached out to Western University\u2019s Northern Tornadoes Project, which researches and confirms severe weather events in Canada.<\/p>\n
David Sills, the director of the Northern Tornadoes Project, said they have been monitoring for reports of a tornado and damage in Oakville and Milton.<\/p>\n
All they have come up with, however, is two suspected photos.<\/p>\n
One claiming to show a tornado over Milton was AI-generated, Sills said.<\/p>\n
Another one claiming to show a tornado over Oakville \u201cis harder to pin down,\u201d he said, but is likely not real.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe location and timing do not match up with the radar imagery we\u2019ve analyzed, and the photo does look manipulated in some way,\u201d Sills said.<\/p>\n
He said they are \u201cfairly certain that no tornado occurred.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, the radar sequence indicates that a tornado warning was certainly warranted,\u201d Sills said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust lucky a tornado did not develop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Environment Canada issues tornado warnings when a thunderstorm is producing or is likely to produce a tornado.<\/p>\n
Certain things like rotation on a weather radar can indicate if a storm is or is likely to produce a tornado.<\/p>\n