A Tornado Struck Belarus Last Night
- 2.08.2026, 8:11
The storm passed 15 km from the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant.
A tornado struck the northwestern part of the Smorgon District and the southeastern part of the Ostrovets District. This was reported by the Telegram channel "Meteovibe", which specializes in weather coverage. It appears to be only the 13th tornado in the country’s history.
The Telegram channel “6th-Year Meteorology Student’s Diary” reports that damage has been found along the route from the village of Malye Rachuny (in the Smorgon District) to the agricultural town of Rymduny (in the Ostrovets District)—a distance of at least 10 km—including: fallen and broken trees, windbreaks in some places, damaged roofs, fences, and road signs. The trees were knocked down in a chaotic pattern; for example, some trees were blown from west to east, while a little further on, others were blown from east to west, and so on. The tornado passed 15 km from the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant.
A tornado is a rotating column of air that extends from a cloud to the ground. It forms when cold air descends from above and creates a cumulonimbus cloud. Warm air from below begins to rise, displacing the cold air. The winds intensify, moving up and down and spiraling. Gradually, the cloud is drawn into this vortex, and a visible funnel appears. When it touches the ground, it is classified as a tornado.
As explained in 2024 by Belhydromete, tornadoes have been recorded in our country only 11 times over the past 30-plus years (including in June 2024; thus, the incident that occurred in 2025 was the 12th on record). Most of them were classified as Class 1 or 2 on the Fujita scale (which has a total of six levels, ranging from 0 to 5).
One of the most destructive tornadoes (Class 2–3) occurred in August 1993 in the Sharkovshchina and Miory districts of the Vitebsk Region. At that time, a 35-metric-ton trailer was overturned, trees were broken and uprooted, roofs were damaged and partially torn off, windows were shattered, and so on. In 2023, a young woman died as a result of a tornado on the Minsk Sea.