Tornado touches down in Quebec's Montérégie region, damaging homes

A tornado touched down in Rigaud, Que., late Monday afternoon, causing some damage to homes.

Maxime Desharnais, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said the tornado touched down at around 5:30 p.m. Rigaud is about 70 kilometres west of Montreal, near the Ontario border.

The event was confirmed after video of the tornado was submitted to Environment Canada, said Desharnais. The footage shows a roof being blown from a house.

Geneviève Hamel, a spokesperson for the city of Rigaud, said three homes were damaged in the municipality. Quebec provincial police say no injuries have been reported yet.

At this time, Environment Canada is unable to determine the strength of the tornado and further assessment is needed, Desharnais said, but it is not expected that the situation will worsen.

As the daytime heat, which fuels such weather events, starts to dissipate, the conditions should begin to improve, Desharnais said. The dropping temperatures will help mitigate the risk of further tornado activity, he said.

Several hours before the tornado touched down, tornado warnings were downgraded to watches for upper Gatineau and Prescott and Russell United Counties.

Montreal has been under a severe thunderstorm watch Monday afternoon, with strong winds and rain blowing into the region. That watch covers much of southwestern Quebec to the Ontario border.

There were severe thunderstorm warnings issued for the Laurentians and parts of the Outaouais region earlier Monday.