Radar, Wind Graphs: Cheap Trick Ottawa Stage Collapse

UPDATE 7/28/2011: Cheap trick has issued a press release where they are demanding that this type of thing be prevented in the future. Within, they say "While weather likely contributed to the incident, Cheap Trick notes that the multi-ton stage roof that fell on everyone on the stage must be properly explained, especially when nearby tents and other temporary structures stood untouched." UPDATE 3 PM 7/19/2011: Asperatus clouds were also sighted with the storm, as evidenced by a photo on Gizmodo.

UPDATE 8 AM 7/19/2011: John Huntington of ControlGeek.Net left some comments below and has a blog entry pointing out that it was the stage roof, not the stage, that collapsed, and he has information on the type of stage setup they used, and historical parallels.

Additionally, blog reader Matt from St. Albans, VT pointed out that the storm, by the time it reached Vermont, was dying and causing a mini-heat burst in northern Canada. A Vermont DOT weather station south of him in Milton, VT, showed gusty winds and a temperature rise from 81 to 84 degrees between 9:30 and 10 PM while humidity fell from 62 to 45% (see graphs above). Matt saw a rise of 75 to 80 around 10 PM.

ORIGINAL BLOG: The stage collapsed during a Cheap Trick concert at Ontario Canada's Bluesfest last night around 8 PM Eastern time, causing some injuries. More information and videos are available in our news story.

Because of the lack of radar and surface weather data in Canada, it's harder to do a detailed analysis on this storm, but the northern New York State radar (above) showed a strong line of storms overtaking the city of Ottawa around 8:30 PM.

The Ottawa international airport gusted to 60 mph at 7:30 PM as the storms moved through, and it's likely the city took on some of the strongest winds in the storm, at the tip of the "bow echo" radar signature. Winds at or above 60 mph could have easily caused major damage to the venue.