This popped up on my email a few minutes ago:

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING ISSUED For Ottawa BY ENVIRONMENT CANADA

BULLETIN ISSUED AT: 3:57 PM EDT MONDAY 18 AUGUST 2008
AT 3:40 PM THE RADAR IS INDICATING THAT A WEST TO EAST LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 80 KM/H. LARGE HAIL GREATER THAN 2 CENTIMETRES IN DIAMETER AND STRONG WINDS GUSTS OF 90 TO 120 KM/H ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS. THERE IS ALSO A RISK OF A TORNADO.  THIS IS A WARNING THAT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING IN THESE REGIONS. REMEMBER SOME SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE TORNADOES..LISTEN FOR UPDATED WARNINGS. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ONTARIO RECOMMENDS TAKING COVER IMMEDIATELY WHEN THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.   SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR OTTAWA NORTH – KANATA – ORLEANS CONTINUED  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.  THIS IS AN ALERT TO THE POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.  MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS..LISTEN FOR UPDATED STATEMENTS. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES TAKE IMMEDIATE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS.

 

The Franktown radar at 15:40 Eastern showed:

The view from my office window is very impressive.  I can see a sharp line along the edge of the clouds to the south.  A couple of minutes ago I watched as the bottom layer of clouds was swirling in a vertical manner while the layer above it was moving south.  And there’s thunder rumbling and we’ve seen a couple of flashes of lightning.

I wouldn’t be surprised if someone reports a funnel cloud because it sure looks like there might be a "comma" or two in the radar image.

Oh, and it’s just started to pour rain, to the extent that I can’t see the edge of the clouds any more.