Short, intense rainstorm causes flash flooding in Vaudreuil-Dorion, funnel clouds spotted

While rain storms weren't as bad in many areas of Greater Montreal on Monday, the city of Vaudreuil-Dorion west of the island got hit with a short, intense rainstorm that caused flash flooding in the area.

Jessika Menard left her home with her husband around 4:30 p.m. when the rain started pouring.

"The rain lasted maybe 35 minutes," she said. "We didn't expect that!"

The City of Vaudreuil said around a dozen 311 calls to the public works line reported sewer backups and the fire safety department were called to around 40 interventions between 3:50 and 8 p.m. for floods, electrical hazards and fire alarms.

"They have assisted as many citizens as possible to limit damage to their homes," said communications agent Genevieve Groleau.

The rainstorm was so quick and localized that no mention of it is on the Environment Canada and Climate Change site, which says that there was 0.0 mm. of total precipitation on June 26, 2023.

Environment Canada spokesperson Simon Legault said that due to the storms' sporadic locations in Laval and Vaudreuil, many stations did not record any water.

"The thundershowers were really local, so it depends if it hits the station or not," said Legault. "Some reported over 60 millimetres, and some had none. We didn't have extensive flash flooding but local ones."

A resident of Vaudreuil-Dorion walks through a parking lot that was hit by flash flooding on June 26, 2023. SOUCRE: Jessika Menard

As she drove through the parking lot on the south side of Highway 40, water crested on both sides of the vehicle as massive puddles formed in parking lots, garages and other areas.

"It's just something you don't expect after 45 minutes of rain," said Menard.

She said her condo building had around a foot of water in the garage, and some places had as many as three feet of water in their underground parking lots. 

Enzo and Charlie were eager to get indoors after short but intense rains poured on Vaudreuil-Dorion on the afternoon of June 26, 2023. SOURCE: Jessika Menard

The Centre Multisports Andre-Chagnon closed Monday due to damage caused by the rains.

"We have a lot of damage inside," the centre said on its Facebook page.

Groleau said that apart from the gym and track, there was no significant damage elsewhere in the building.

It was reopened on Tuesday.

FUNNEL CLOUDS SPOTTED

Residents in the Laurentians, Mirabel and Gatineau regions reported seeing funnel clouds forming in the sky, but Legault said no reports were made of tornados actually touching down.

"People looked up and saw rotations in the sky," he said. "We didn't have any damage reports. We just know that there were funnel clouds."

Legault said that for it to be a tornado, it must touch the earth. However, a tornado may have hit a remote region and not been reported yet.

"We didn't have any tornadoes because nothing points to the effects of the tornado."

Environment Canada's forecast calls for possible thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon, but Legault said that the risk of a tornado forming is not high.