Canada Day Tornado - EF-4

Well, It was quite a disappointing year as far as storm chasing went in 2023. After a very uneventful to the start of the season my storm chasing partner and I were desperate to get some decent wld weather shots. After conducting a long range forecast in mid June we had our hopes up for some pretty active weather around July 1st. As we got closer to Canada Day our forecasted chase area was changing with every refresh. We had settled the night before to head towards the Pigeon Lake and Three Hills area. The next morning all of our preparation and planning went out of the window. As I was leaving the city an incredibly crisp cumulonimbus nimbus anvil was blowing up west of Didsbury at around 1:00 pm. As we got closer, there was an ominous wall cloud almost scraping the ground. At around 1:48pm We spotted a brief funnel that touched down and we decided to get closer. The funnel then gained strength and ended up being rated as an EF-4 Tornado that relocated 3 homes and unfortunately claimed the lives of farmers livestock. The Tornado was on the ground for 30 minutes! That being said it was an incredible feat of nature to see.