On Friday May 31, 1985, a swarm of tornadoes originating from a strong cold front swept through southern Ontario. One of these, rated F4 on the tornado intensity scale (the strongest being F5), veered off in a north-easterly direction towards the town of Barrie, Ontario. The funnel touched down on the outskirts of the town at around 4:30 pm, and from there cut a swath of destruction not seen before in the tornado-prone region. Known since as Black Friday, it was a dark day in more ways than one for the people of Barrie.

After first decimating part of a pine forest plantation, the tornado completely demolished a square block of houses. Cars were pitched several hundred metres into the bush, and three people were killed. Next in its path was an industrial complex, where sixteen factories were destroyed and many more severely damaged, with thick steel girders left twisted and roofs blown off. There was only one fatality. There may have been more had it not been for a power outage earlier that day that shut the factory down early.

As the tornado reached the Barrie racetrack, the grandstand and several barns were heavily damaged. Frantic with fear, the horses ran in all directions. One horse was picked up by the wind and gently placed back on the ground some distance away. From that day on, the horse was nicknamed “Twister Resistor.” On Highway 400, a woman who had been thrown to the floor of her car survived, but the car was battered beyond repair. Metal guard rails from the highway were found hundreds of metres away wrapped around buildings and trees.

Continuing eastward, the tornado levelled parts of a townhouse complex, and another industrial park near Highway 11 sustained massive damage. A subdivision, some warehouses and more homes were destroyed as the tornado lambasted all in its path. In some cases, entire houses were removed intact from their foundations. Thirty five boats and their concrete moorings completely disappeared at the marina, and debris from all over the town was later found floating as far as 5 kilometres out on Lake Simcoe.

The fourth most destructive tornado in Canadian history finally started losing its strength over Lake Simcoe, and no damage occurred on the opposite side. The entire tornado track within Barrie city limits was 5 kilometres long and at times as wide as 600 metres. In all, 8 people were killed, mostly as a result of wind-driven debris. Hundreds were injured or left homeless and damages came to over $100 million.