Canada's Top Ten Weather Stories for 2012

A Year in Review - 2012 Weather Stories

From super storms to super heat, and from immense flooding to immense fires; go big seemed to be the theme for Mother Nature in 2012.
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The Top Ten

1. The Big Heat

Image of two melting snowman in grass.

Canadians experienced above normal temperatures and several record breaking days through winter, spring and summer from coast to coast to coast. It’s been a warm year…and decade!
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2. Super Storm Sandy and Another Active Hurricane Season

Waves crashing on the shore during Hurricane Sandy

Forecasters were right on the money when they accurately predicted another active Atlantic hurricane season in 2012. At season’s end, there were 19 named storms from Alberto to Tony, 10 of which became full-blown hurricanes.
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3. BC Flooding...Larger, Longer and Lethal

Image of a flooded lake.

High levels of early spring flooding in British Columbia caused washouts, and slides, evacuations and fatalities.
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4. March's Meteorological Mildness

Girl looking for maple sap at sugar bush.

The March 2012 heat wave was off the scale in every way: intense, huge and long-lasting. The heat eclipsed every previous temperature record and upstaged the winter that wasn’t.
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5. Summer on the Prairies... Warm, Wet and Wild

Prairie summer storm

Summer on the Prairies started out with short-lived cool temperatures and ended as one of the top ten warmest on record. It followed a spring that was the third wettest and fifth warmest in 65 years of record-keeping.
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6. The Big Melt

Ships in ice

The year 2012 will go down as one of extraordinary change across the Arctic Ocean, with sea ice that is becoming dramatically thinner, weaker and younger, and melting more easily.
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7. High and Dry in the East

Dry forest conditions

Higher than normal temperatures and a lack of rainfall in Eastern Canada meant a great summer for most outdoor enthusiasts but trouble for some crops and water systems.
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8. The Year of the Urban Flood

Fire hydrant in water.

While flooding typically hits rural areas hardest, 2012 brought equal opportunity flooding to many urban Canadians.  Thunder Bay experienced record breaking flooding in May while Montreal and Toronto also found themselves with expensive floods weeks later.
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9. Hail to Calgary...Again

Image of hail a hail storm.

A monstrous hailstorm pelted parts of Calgary with hailstones larger than golf balls late on August 12th. In a matter of 10 minutes, pounding hail dimpled vehicles and riddled house siding with millions of dents.
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10. Historic Ice-jam Flooding in the Saint John River

Image of an ice flood.

The first days of spring were marked by a mandatory evacuation for 500 residents of Perth-Andover and Tobique First Nation when the Saint John River and several of its tributaries spilled onto nearby fields and roads.
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Runner-Up Weather Stories

Regional Highlights

Atlantic Canada

Quebec

Ontario

Prairie Provinces

British Columbia

The North