The 1987 Edmonton tornado killed 27 people.
The F4 tornado struck Edmonton and nearby Strathcona County on July 31, 1987, during a day of severe thunderstorms across central Alberta. It caused 27 deaths and injured approximately 300 people, making it one of Canada’s deadliest tornadoes and the second-deadliest in the country’s recorded history after the 1912 Regina Cyclone.
The tornado’s destruction was concentrated in several major disaster sites, including industrial areas and residential neighborhoods such as Mill Woods, Kernohan, Bannerman, Fraser, and the Evergreen mobile-home park. More than 300 homes were destroyed, and total property damage exceeded C$332 million at the time.
The death toll is sometimes confused with the number of injuries or with casualty figures from other tornadoes in Canada. The figure 27 refers specifically to fatalities from the Edmonton event. Beyond the immediate losses, the disaster influenced emergency planning: Alberta developed a public warning system, and Canada expanded Doppler-radar use in the years that followed.