Does this make it a "whirlwind tour"?

Our two final nights at Waterfront Campground, NB, were capped by its free canoeing and firewood.

Due to the rain forecast for Quebec through the weekend, we decided to drive straight home, from 10 a.m. yesterday till 4:30 a.m. this morning.




But what a Home Sweet Home it turns out to be.

Not long after crossing the border into Ontario, we start getting more than a drizzle. We'd just gotten a coffee from one of the service centres on 401 westbound and thought we'd have to stay indoors for a while. It was like lightning everywhere, and sheets of rain. Then it seemed like the rain had stopped; so we jumped in and drove on.

Then it came down with a fury--we slowed to an 80 km/h crawl, wipers on max, and more lightning. We also noticed the message on the electronic boards, in English and French: "Severe Weather Warning." But this was more severe than "severe"!

At our final gas top-up--wow, only 92 cents around Cobourg--the weather had let up, and we read the front-page news of three Toronto newspapers--the Friday edition at around 3:30 a.m.! Everywhere the word "tornado" appeared. And then it dawned on us. O, that's what it was, that rain! Tuning in to AM680 confirmed it--there were stretches of highway closures, areas of emergency or electrical blackouts, and one death in Durham County, where we were. It was then we prayed our thanksgiving for journey mercies!

Following are some of other people's videos already available on youtube:

If you live near Don Mills and Sheppard, you might have seen this:


If you were in Vaughn, you might've seen the funnel cloud:


My view in the car at night wasn't too different from this:


Did any of you experience the tornado? Do tell!