Expanded tornadoes project expected to improve safety nationally and internationally

Western University’s Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) is expanding across Canada.

This is a result of a partnership with ImpactWX, a Toronto-based social impact fund, and involves collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada, a news release says.

The collaboration includes more data collection, analysis and archiving activities across Canada.

ImpactWX recently contributed $6.4 million to NTP and Western added $2.5 million to endow the ImpactWX Chair in in Severe Storms Engineering.

Greg Kopp, NTP’s lead researcher, says the project will help improve safety in Canada and around the world.

“I’m excited and looking forward to continuing to advance our research collaborations to drive the national and international impact of this important work,” says Kopp.

“Better understanding of tornado occurrence and intensity will allow engineers to better design structures for the risk and meteorologists to provide effective warnings.”

NTP started tracking tornadoes in Northern Ontario in 2017 and expanded Ontario-wide in 2018.

The project includes high-resolution satellite and aerial imagery, drones and on-the-ground observations. NTP is working to develop new methods and tools for forecasting.