Six tornadoes swept through Alberta's Peace region last week
An EF2 tornado near Girouxville was the strongest in the outbreak, which researchers say is officially Alberta's first tornado outbreak.
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A tornado outbreak struck Alberta's Peace region last week, with researchers confirming six tornadoes across the area — making it officially the first tornado outbreak ever recorded in the region.
The Northern Tornado Project, a Western University-based monitoring organization, deployed a team last week to assess damage. The strongest was an EF2 tornado on June 15 near Girouxville, with estimated maximum wind speeds of 190 km/h. "Basically 100 per cent of the trees, almost, were snapped along the path where it went through," said NTP director Dave Sills. "Thankfully, the tornado intensity turned down a notch before it got to town."
Girouxville is located about 55 kilometres south of Peace River and 440 kilometres northwest of Edmonton. The last tornado of that scale in the region was in Grimshaw in 2003.
A separate EF1 tornado with winds of 150 km/h struck southwest of Girouxville near Enilda earlier that evening. Four other EF0 tornadoes were identified near Hines Creek, Nampa, Falher, and McLennan, with estimated winds between 90 and 130 km/h. The first tornado began at 5:07 p.m. in Hines Creek; the last started at 9:42 p.m. in Enilda.
Girouxville Mayor Joseph Zdeb said the community rallied to clean up trees and debris, and to waterproof damaged roofs. Some residents are waiting for insurance assessments before making permanent repairs. The community campground remains closed due to potentially hazardous trees. These six tornadoes bring Alberta's 2026 total to 19.
