Alberta storm chaser Tom Graham still remembers the worst tornado in the province’s history, from 36 years ago when he was a child in elementary school.
He was on summer vacation, visiting the newly opened wave pool and waterpark at West Edmonton Mall, when a powerful F4 tornado tore through east Edmonton and the surrounding area, killing over two dozen people.
The “Black Friday” tornado, as it became known, was one of seven tornadoes that day, July 31, 1987, and easily the most violent the province had ever experienced.
Alberta Storm Chaser Tom Graham took photographs of the powerful F4 tornado that ripped through the Didsbury region at speeds of up to 275 km/hour, on July 1, 2023. (Courtesy of Tom Graham/@Washed_Up on Twitter)
It was after that infamous tornado that Graham became interested in storms, and once he got his driver’s licence, he began chasing them in earnest….