By paNOW Staff

Funnel cloud near Birch Hills confirmed to be a tornado

Jun 15, 2011 | 5:30 PM

A funnel cloud spotted near Birch Hills Tuesday afternoon was, in fact, a weak tornado.

Environment Canada said the twister touched down around noon in a farmer’s field, but didn't cause any damage.

“Based on what we can determine so far, it was not a strong tornado. We have not received any damage reports, so I would probably rate as an F0 or an F1, but were still evaluating it,” said severe weather specialist Greg Walters.

Environment Canada rates tornados on a scale of one to five, with five being the most severe.

“It’s not one of those classic tornadoes. It’s just what we would term to be a cold core funnel, which is basically a non-severe funnel cloud that comes down and touches the ground,” he said.

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The twister spawned from a band of thunderstorm cells that rolled through the region Tuesday bringing heavy rain. Walters estimates the twister lasted for no more than 10-minutes.

news@panow.com