BAIE VERTE — A storm front described as “something from a horror flick” slammed the Baie Verte region Wednesday evening.

It was a calm day on the water as some local fishermen took advantage of the squid in the bay to do some jigging. However, a peculiar weather pattern struck, which left boaters scrambling for a place to dock as high winds and a cold front ripped through the area.

Volunteer Fire Chief Billy Hewitt said it wasn’t like anything he’d ever seen.

“It came in with wicked strong winds and stuff,” Hewitt told The Western Star Friday. “I know I had tables and a tent set up down in the back, and all that blew away, over in the next door neighbour’s yard — patio furniture and stuff like that.

“I don’t know how to explain it, it was real fast and real strong wind. It wasn’t like a tornado, but different type of clouds moved right in over the top of clouds that were already there and covered everything.”

The fire department was quickly called to an area of town where trees blew down and power lines fell, resulting in a small fire that they quickly extinguished.

Const. Scott MacDonald of the Baie Verte RCMP said he started night shift about 4 p.m. and the weather event caused him to take a closer look.

“It was weird,” he said. “It was calm and then all of a sudden winds just came out of nowhere. It kind of just blew right into the bay. It was almost eerie, like something out of a horror movie.

“It almost reminded me of a fall storm — high winds, really cold air. I never really took note of the clouds, but it was almost like someone turned on a switch and the high winds came.

“I can remember coming into the office and looking out at the bay at the guys squid jigging ...There were white caps throughout the bay, and it is rare for here because it is so shallow here. Then I saw all the guys squid jigging making a run for the shore. The waves had really picked up.”

Police didn’t respond to any incidents, and all fishermen apparently reached shore and the storm passed without incident. Afterwards, Const. MacDonald said he noticed small debris had blown around and leaves had fallen off trees, much like it does in the fall.

He thought that was strange for this time of year.

Meanwhile, Environment Canada meteorologist Herb Thoms said the department had not seen or heard of anything out of the ordinary in that area that evening.

“It could have been the end of a cold front that went through,” he said. “There was nothing that showed up on the radar that indicated anything. It was a bit of wind-shift and the winds increased, and that was probably a part of the cold front.”

(Original headline: Strange phenomenom; Residents at a loss to explain sudden storm )

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