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Canada's top ten weather stories of 2013

A year in review - 2013 weather stories

Floods were the big newsmakers in Canada in 2013. In some cases it was fast and furious rains that were to blame; in others it was a mix of rainfall and snowmelt. Add an urban landscape with little capacity to absorb the aftermath and you have all the key ingredients for an ominous overflow.
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Top ten weather stories

  1. Alberta's Flood of Floods

    Alberta's Flood of Floods

    Alberta’s super flood of 2013 washed across one-quarter of the province and through the heart of Calgary. It was likely the most disruptive flood in Canadian history, cutting off dozens of communities and prompting the largest evacuation with up to 100,000 Albertans told to leave their homes.
    Read the full story.

  2. Toronto's Torrent

    Flooded park

    Two separate storm cells struck Toronto during evening rush hour on July This one-two weather punch delivered more rain in two hours than Toronto usually sees during an entire July. Never before had such a drenching thunderstorm soaked a surface with more cement than grass.
    Read the full story.

  3. Bumper Crops in the West, So-So for the Rest

    Field of hay

    In the West, the growing season came pretty darn close to perfect with food producers describing it as incredible, bin-busting and best in a lifetime. Heading eastward, the growing season was more of a rollercoaster – some crop yields were up and some were down.
    Read the full story.

  4. The Nightmare during Christmas

    Fallen trees due to ice.

    The weekend before Christmas a vigorous winter storm coated parts of eastern Canada with a thick mixture of snow, ice pellets, rain and freezing rain that plunged large parts of the region into days of cold and darkness. Thick glaze left roads and sidewalks slick and dangerous and knocked down power lines, leaving over 500,000 people without electricity.1
    Read the full story.

  5. To Flood or Not to Flood

    Two ducks swimming in paritially frozen water.

    Flood forecasters were predicting yet another major Red River Valley flood, which would be the third in five years. But what experts considered a “sure” flood never came to be after a cold spring eased snowmelt and kept water levels manageable.
    Read the full story.

  6. Rebound in the Arctic Ocean and the Great Lakes

    Icebergs in the Arctic

    In the eastern Arctic, the coldest summer in 15 years helped slow sea ice melting in the Canadian Arctic Ocean. For the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence, it was one of the wettest years on record – more than 13 per cent wetter than normal – which helped restore water levels.
    Read the full story.

  7. Wicked Winter Weather Wallops the East

    People being blown by snow gusts.

    In February, two weather systems morphed into a blizzard of historic proportions with as much as 60 cm of snow falling along the Atlantic coast. For many in southern Ontario and Quebec, it was a one-day event that packed a punch with strong gusty winds and tons of blowing snow.
    Read the full story.

  8. Spring Flooding in Ontario's Cottage Country

    Cottages in water

    Warm, moist mid-April weather led to major flooding north and east of Georgian Bay in Ontario’s cottage country. Copious amounts of warm rain also melted a later-than-normal snowpack. The ensuing melt water and rains funneled quickly into rivers, lakes and streams causing some of the highest and fastest rising water levels in recent memory.
    Read the full story.

  9. Prairie Winter Went on Forever

    Hay bales covered with snow in a snow covered field.

    Environment Canada considers the months of December through February as winter. Tell that to the Prairies, where cold, snow and ice went on for seven months from October 2012 to April 2013. As a result, it felt and looked like winter from before Thanksgiving to a month after Easter.
    Read the full story.

  10. Stormy Seas and Maritime Tragedy

    Ship navigating through turbulent waters

    In a month of frequent winter storms across eastern North America, none was more tragic than the powerful storm that led to the drowning of five young fishermen off Nova Scotia.
    Read the full story.

Runner-up stories for 2013

Regional highlights

Atlantic Canada

Quebec

Ontario

Prairie Provinces

British Columbia

The North

1 The Christmas ice storm in Eastern Canada occurred following release of the original version of Canada’s Top Ten Weather Stories for 2013. The revised document ranks this very significant event as Number 4 with other ranked events following in order. The Number 10 event in the original release now appears as a runner-up story.

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2013 - A Year in Review

Floods were the big newsmakers in Canada in 2013. In some cases it was fast and furious rains that were to blame; in others it was a mix of rainfall and snowmelt. Add an urban landscape with little capacity to absorb the aftermath and you have all the key ingredients for an ominous overflow. The biggest flood hit in June when torrential downpours overwhelmed Calgary and vast areas of southern Alberta forcing 100,000 Albertans from their homes and causing billions of dollars in damages. Three weeks later, large parts of Toronto’s core were flooded by one of the heaviest one-day rainfalls in the city’s history. Canadians were wowed by images of the immediate and powerful forces of nature on our streets and in our backyards. According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, those two events constitute the first and third largest natural insured catastrophes in Canadian history.  Worth noting is nature’s apparent interest in Calgary. This year’s flooding made it the fourth year in a row that violent weather struck the city hard. Last year, as it was in 2010, a monstrous hailer inflicted multi-million dollar property losses. In 2011, powerful Chinook winds ripped through the downtown at hurricane-force speeds, causing millions more in damages.

Other flood stories included torrential April showers and a sudden snowmelt in central Ontario’s cottage country that engorged rivers and raised water to historic flood levels not seen in 100 years. In June it was swollen rivers that burst their banks in Fort McMurray forcing hundreds to evacuate. Perhaps the most surprising story among them was the actual lack of flooding experienced in the eastern Prairies. The region was facing predictions of yet another major flood in 2013, which would be its third in five years, but what experts considered a “sure” flood became an also-ran when a cold spring eased snowmelt and kept water flows manageable.

“Rebound” was a descriptor for two of this year’s top weather stories. In the eastern Arctic, the coldest summer in 15 years (among other factors) helped slow sea ice melting in the Canadian Arctic Ocean to within three per cent of the normal minimum coverage and resulted in the greatest ice extent since 2005. For the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence, it was one of the wettest years on record – more than 13 per cent wetter than normal – which helped restore water levels.  A single year does not a trend make, especially considering the inherent variability of the global climate system. One weather feature that is a sure thing in Canada is a big storm and our big storms always make the news. In 2013, our biggest newsmakers included two powerful February storms: one that began as an Alberta clipper but soon turned into a powerful Atlantic nor’easter putting millions of Canadians in the East on alert; and another that led to the drowning of five young fishers from Nova Scotia and saddened us all.

On a positive note, we were spared deadly tornadoes and severe drought in 2013. Our air was also clearer than in most years, it was a quiet year for interface wildfires and there were fewer West Nile virus-carrying mosquitoes. The hurricane season was also uneventful – quiet and gentle in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea despite dire predictions and the emergence of Typhoon Haiyan on the other side of the world, which was one of the most intense tropical storms on Earth. For farm producers in the West, it was a bumper year for crops. And British Columbia experienced a near-perfect summer featuring the driest and sunniest July on record.

Incredible as it may seem it was another warm year in Canada − our 17th year in a row − although not as warm as it’s been in recent years. Every region was warmer or near normal, especially southern British Columbia where climatologists recorded the region’s fourth warmest December (2012) to November (2013) period in 66 years. On the other hand, the Prairies measured in at a mere 0.1°C warmer than normal in 2013. Not surprising since they experienced what seemed to be a never-ending seven-month winter. For those in the East, warm weather was also scarce with a summer that was more of a teaser than a pleaser. High temperatures made a brief appearance for one week in July and offered a brief encore in September in what was otherwise one of the shortest summers in years.

Canada’s top weather stories for 2013 are ranked from one to ten based on the degree to which Canada and Canadians were impacted, the extent of the area affected, economic effects and longevity as a top news story:

  1. Alberta’s Flood of Floods 
  2. Toronto’s Torrent
  3. Bumper Crops in the West, So-So for the Rest  
  4. To Flood or Not to Flood?
  5. Rebound in the Arctic Ocean and the Great Lakes
  6. Wicked Winter Weather Wallops the East
  7. Spring Flooding in Ontario’s Cottage Country  
  8. Prairie Winter Went on Forever
  9. Stormy Seas and Maritime Tragedy
  10. Sunny and Rainless in BC

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1. Alberta's Flood of Floods

Figure 1a. Map of Canada, highlighting Southern Alberta. Click to see large map.

Alberta’s super flood of 2013 washed across one-quarter of the province and through the heart of Calgary – the fourth largest city in Canada.The disruptive flood cut off dozens of communities throughout the province and prompted the largest evacuation across Canada in more than 60 years with up to 100,000 Albertans told to leave their homes.

It was also Canada’s costliest natural disaster – more expensive than eastern Canada’s 1998 ice storm. Economists project damage losses and recovery costs from the flood to exceed $6 billion, including a record $2 billion in insured losses. In its wake, the flood caused unbelievable infrastructure losses from 1,000 km of destroyed roads and hundreds of washed-away bridges and culverts. Among insured losses were thousands of cars and homes demolished and damaged by backed-up sewers and small rivulets that exploded into raging torrents.

Image 1a. Alberta flood waters several feet high.

Southern Alberta is no stranger to flooding, especially in June – typically the wettest month of the year and a time when mountain snowmelt begins to appear on the Prairies. This year’s super flood, which extended from Canmore to Calgary and beyond, was exacerbated by several antecedent hydrometeorological events in the headwaters of the Bow River watershed. To begin with, it began snowing in southern Alberta before Thanksgiving 2012 and didn’t stop until a month after Easter. The mountain snowpack in May was immense, over one metre in places. Further, the spring was wet leaving the ground saturated and streams and rivers bloated. Calgary and some foothill weather stations had greater rainfall amounts between May 23 and 24 than those experienced during the flood a month later. At Livingstone, 96 mm of rain fell on May 25. And a brief warm-up that month started melting the nearly one-metre deep snowpack at the treeline. Weeks before, satellite imagery had revealed basin groundwater to be higher than average leaving the land with little extra capacity to take up additional water from rain and melting snow.

Image 1b. Rescue workers helping child from flooded home.

So it was no surprise that the water bomb that hit on June 19 wreaked havoc. The storm featured an intense and slow-moving moist upper low that parked itself over southern Alberta, delivering three days of torrential rains. What was not typical was that it stalled and sat over the mountains for days due to a massive high-pressure ridge to the north that blocked it from moving east and pinched it up against the Rocky Mountains. The stationary, wide-ranging low drew in warm air and cargoes of moisture from the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and beyond before drenching the Rockies watershed in southeastern British Columbia and southern Alberta. Interestingly, the same high-pressure system had earlier contributed to the devastating forest fires in Colorado and record-high temperatures in Yukon and Alaska. Beginning late on June 19, the skies opened and poured for 15 to 18 hours − a fire hose aimed directly at southwestern Alberta. The trapped low studded with thunderstorms just kept drenching the mountains, melting the snowpack but not thawing the partially frozen ground. The already saturated soil on thinly covered steep slopes couldn’t take any more water.

Image 1c. Rescue workers helping people by boat.

Calgary received 68 mm over 48 hours, but the rainfall west of the city in the elevated headwaters of the Bow and Elbow rivers was exceptionally heavy and torrential – more typical of a tropical storm in quantity and intensity. Rainfall rates of 3 to 5 mm/h are considered high; rates from this storm were 10 to 20 mm/h in the higher elevations, with several stations reporting 50 to 70 per cent of their storm rainfall in the first 12 hours. Totals averaged 75 to 150 mm over two and a half days, with Burns Creek (west of High River at 1,800 m elevation) recording a phenomenal 345 mm. At Canmore, over 200 mm of rain fell – ten times that of a typical summer rainfall. Also contributing to the flood, the warm air and rain melted up to 60 cm of snowpack, which was about 25 per cent above normal for that time of year, instantly engorging streams and rivulets.

Image 1d. Flood waters were half way up telephone poles.

Rampaging floods and mudslides forced the closure of the Trans-Canada Highway, isolating Banff and Canmore at the epicentre of the mountain flooding. Raging creeks ate away at riverbanks and backyards, leaving behind crumbling decks and twisted fences. Trees were literally skinned of their bark 10 metres above the ground by gravel and boulders barrelling along in rushing waters. In Canmore, the swirling Cougar Creek left entire homes teetering along its widening banks and sent residents in waist-deep water scrambling to safety. Emergency crews used helicopters, boats, combines, front-end loaders and manure spreaders to rescue stranded residents. More than two dozen towns declared states of emergency. Entire communities, including High River and Bragg Creek, were under mandatory evacuation orders. The rate at which the river sped through High River, a town of nearly 13,000, was faster than that over Niagara Falls, submerging over half the town. Several First Nations communities were particularly hard hit by the floods, with many residents still not back in their homes six months later.

Image 1e. Flood devastation overturned railway tracks.

In Calgary’s downtown, 4,000 businesses were impacted and 3,000 buildings were flooded. Water rose at the Saddledome up to the 10th row. In Stampede Park, stables and barns were under more than two metres of water. And at the partially submerged Calgary Zoo, officials moved several exotic animals to its ranch facility south of the city. The debris flood of the Bow and Elbow rivers washed away roads, rail lines and transit systems as well as several pedestrian bridges, and inundated dozens of city parks and more than 100 km of riverside pathways with water, mud, downed trees and other debris. The tragedy associated with the flooding went beyond the cost of replaceable property and belongings. Four people died after being swept away in the fast-moving waters, and the lives of thousands of Albertans and their families were changed. The sheer volume and force of raging waters caused visible and permanent changes to the landscape and beauty of southern Alberta forever, including natural carving of the landscape and river channels that would normally take centuries to evolve being destroyed in less than two days.

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2. Toronto's Torrent

Figure 2a. Map of Canada, highlighting Toronto. Click to see large map.

A summery air mass with embedded “garden-variety” thunderstorms tracked across much of southern Ontario during the afternoon and evening hours of July 8. The only thing worrying forecasters was its exceptionally high precipitable water content and slow motion. What had been an uneventful day began to change mid-afternoon when a small cluster of thunderstorms passed over Georgian Bay and continued south-southeastward. By 5:00 p.m. it was raining heavily at the centre of the storm just north of Highway 401 and at Toronto Pearson International Airport. At the same time, another weaker line of thunderstorms formed northwest of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and travelled southeastward toward the city’s downtown. By 5:30 pm the relatively weak storm blossomed dramatically. Suddenly, Toronto faced two separate storm cells – one on the heels of the other – that slowed then stalled over the city. The one-two weather punch delivered more rain in two hours than Toronto usually sees during an entire July. Moreover, the storms were targeting the most urbanized area in Canada. Rarely before had such a drenching thunderstorm soaked a surface with more cement than grass. The following rainfall totals (mm) from in and around the GTA help to illustrate the bull’s-eye target of the event on the downtown: Toronto Pearson 126.0; Toronto City 96.8; Toronto Island 85.5; Downsview 65.8; East York 51.5; Richmond Hill 19.8; Oshawa 4.8; Oakville 4.2; and Hamilton 4.2. The storm was noteworthy because of the rain’s intensity, far exceeding storm sewers’ capacity, which caused flooding runoff to travel along city streets to creeks and rivers. The majority f rain fell in two hours from approximately 4:20 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Many compared the storm’s rainfall to that from Hurricane Hazel in October 1954.

GO train beside the Don river with a very high water level.

Exacerbating the storm’s impact was the 38 mm of rain that had fallen on the city the day before. Adding to that was an abnormally wet spring and early summer – the dampest since 2000. From April 1 to July 7, Toronto Pearson got between 50 and 75 per cent more rain than normal. And talk about timing. The storm hit during afternoon rush hour leaving millions of vulnerable commuters in transit between work and home. The 126.0 mm was a new daily rainfall record at the airport (station records date from November 1937)   and a record for any July date (the previous daily rainfall record for July was set on July 28, 1980 when 118.5 mm of rain fell). The previous daily record for any day at Toronto Pearson was set during Hurricane Hazel when 121.4 mm fell on October 15, 1954. The July 8 storm also set a record for 30-minute and 1, 2, 6 and 12-hour rainfall totals at Toronto Pearson, all in excess of 100-year return periods. Interestingly, the storm’s daily rainfall was NOT the highest recorded value at any Environment Canada archived rain gauge within the GTA. At North York (Downsview), 140.6 mm of rain was recorded on August 19, 2005, with maximum accumulation of 175 mm (unofficial) in a Thornhill backyard. The highest historical daily rainfall outside of Toronto occurred northwest of Pearson Airport at Snelgrove where 181. 6 mm fell during Hurricane Hazel.

Flooded park

The Insurance Bureau of Canada estimated the July 8 storm costs at close to $1 billion in damages – the most expensive natural disaster ever in Toronto and Ontario. The storm caused major transit halts and delays, road closures, flight cancellations and flooding across Toronto and Mississauga. The epic rainfall left several roads and underpasses under water, forcing motorists to abandon their vehicles. Videos captured cars bobbing up and down on streets and highways, sinkholes opening up and snakes swimming inside stalled commuter trains. Thousands were stranded, necessitating rescue by boat in some instances. Others abandoned their vehicles and walked thigh-high in water along roads that looked more like canals. About 500,000 households, mainly in the GTA’s west end, were without power ranging from hours to days. Some 3,000 basements flooded in the rainstorm, causing major damages.

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3. Bumper Crops in the West, So-So for the Rest

Figure 3a. Map of Canada. Click for large map.

Farmers rarely describe the weather as perfect. And for good reason!  The growing season is long and the weather can quickly turn bad any time between seeding and harvesting. In the West, the growing season wasn’t perfect this year but it came pretty darn close with usually cautious food producers describing it as incredible, unbelievable, stupendous, bin-busting and the best in a lifetime. Heading eastward, the growing season was more of a rollercoaster – some crop yields were up and some were down with plenty of challenges in between.

A golden field of harvested hay

The growing season in the West didn’t start with much promise given the long, drawn-out winter and a cool, wet start to spring. While flooding was not widespread, soil was cold and saturated leaving field work three weeks behind. By late August, the season was back on track due to an absence of scorching temperatures and drought. Soil moisture was also good to excellent throughout the season. And, in sharp contrast to last year, severe weather was localized and less frequent. In fact, the Canadian Crop Hail Association reported that, compared to 2012, crop hail claims were down by one-third in Alberta and two-thirds in Saskatchewan. During the last half of July and first half of August very cool temperatures and adequate rains benefitted crops that were mostly in the reproductive growth stage.Farmers pulled off a record crop owing to ideal growing weather and perfect ripening and drying conditions. September temperatures were among the warmest in history. Further, there was no killing frost and zero snowfall at harvest, with only a touch of frost in the middle of September that caused minimal damage given that most crops had matured. By the end of September the harvest was 85 per cent complete; by Thanksgiving it was all wrapped up. Statistics Canada forecasted that western farmers harvested a record 30.5 million tonnes of wheat in 2013. In some areas, durum yields were 20 bushels above grower’s historical bests. Both yield and quality were superb; prices not so much! This year’s grain harvest was so large that some farmers had to pile grain on the ground because their bins were bursting and silage bags were sold out.

In British Columbia, long stretches of dry, sunny weather and warm days without scorching highs and cool nights produced some of the largest and sweetest berries on record and a fantastic vintage in the winery. In Kelowna, for example, days with afternoon temperatures below 30°C and nights above 10°C numbered 64, which is twice the ideal thermal combination seen in recent years. The only blemish was a brief hail storm on September 29 that bruised apples still on trees and stored on the ground in open bins.

Field of hay

In Ontario and Quebec, yields were sweet for maple syrup producers – a vast improvement over last year’s abbreviated season hurt by record March warmth. Ontario apple producers were equally thrilled as they rebounded dramatically from a horrible growing season in 2012 when frost and severe weather wiped out about 80 per cent of the crop and pushed some growers out of business. But farmers in southwestern Ontario were on a bit of a ride depending on where and what they farmed. Some fields either received too much rain or just enough; a touch of early frost or none at all. That left some farmers having to replant three times after rain washed out the first two plantings, losing a whole month to weather. And the drenching continued into summer as some locations, including Windsor and Toronto, experienced their wettest month ever in July. Vast hectares of vegetables and wheat drowned from root rot. In Essex County, tomato crops were reduced by 25 per cent due to heavy rains. Another concern was the once-promising wheat crop. Plants lay flat because root systems couldn’t support the stalks, making the wheat unharvestable. And fusarium appeared making contaminated crops unfit for human and animal consumption. More wetness in October hurt the edible bean crop and made it nearly impossible to plant next year’s winter wheat. In the end, yields and quality were variable from crop to crop and area to area, but ideal finishing-up weather between September 22 and October 5 saved farmers with a better harvest than expected.

Quebec food producers also faced variable conditions for much of the growing season, but in the end crop yields were near or slightly below historical averages. The growing season started early with some welcomed warmth in the first week of May, but cool and very wet conditions for the remainder of the month and into June “dampened” the enthusiasm of farmers. Warm and fair weather in July helped to recuperate what was lost in late May and June, however, a cool wet August again hindered crop development. September was more or less near normal followed by a great October that helped crops reach maturity on time.

Across the Maritimes, the growing season began early but weeks of cool and very wet weather in May, June and July slowed progress. Late pollination was a problem and excessive spring rains forced growers to replant, while others dealt with water erosion. It was even too cool and wet for bees to do their work. One potato grower in Perth-Andover, New Brunswick said he couldn’t remember worse planting and growing conditions. Seeds and seed pieces rotted in the mud. Strawberry producers also fretted over rain-soaked patches. In Fredericton, it was the wettest July on record – more than two and a half times the normal amount of rain. Even worse, the growing season between May and August had 170 per cent more rain than normal making it the wettest May to August in over 130 years. In Nova Scotia, it wasn’t so much the amount of rain but the long stretch of damp, grey skies. Between the second week of May and the end of June, it rained on over 40 of 50 days. Only PEI bucked the trend, with every month between April and October warmer than normal and the total April to October rainfall just two-thirds of normal amounts. Across the region, a long stretch of sunny warm weather in September and October was ideal for crop growth and harvesting. Potato growers enjoyed some of the finest weather in years as they completed the fall harvest on time. The apple harvest was a week early and quality was especially good for fruit size and coloration. Further, the absence of tropical storm weather ensured the apples stayed on the trees until ripened and picked.

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4. The Nightmare during Christmas

Figure 4a. Map of Canada. See large map for details.

The weekend before Christmas a vigorous winter storm coated parts of eastern Canada with a thick mixture of snow, ice pellets, rain and freezing rain that plunged large parts of the region into days of cold and darkness. Thick glaze left roads and sidewalks slick and dangerous and knocked down power lines, leaving over 500,000 people without electricity. In addition to wreaking havoc in Canada’s largest city, it crippled North American transportation at one of the busiest travel times of the year. As damaging as it was, comparisons to the deadly ice storm that entombed the same region in 1998 weren’t even close with the earlier storm killing more than two dozen people and leaving another four million in the dark.

Though picturesque, the Christmas storm created extremely dangerous conditions as fallen power lines intertwined with broken tree limbs dangled across streets and property. The affected area extended from Lake Huron, across the Greater Toronto Area, east along Highway 401 to Cornwall, through Quebec’s Eastern Townships and across the central Maritimes centred on the Bay of Fundy. The epicentre of the freezing rain was in southern Ontario between Niagara and Trenton where between 20 and 30 mm fell – more than two-year’s worth in two days.

The complex weather system originated in Texas and sent warm moist air northward above a shallow surface layer of cold air lying in wait across eastern Canada. The first wave spread continuous mixed precipitation into southern Ontario late on December 20 and through the morning of December 21. A few hours of intermittent precipitation followed before a more potent storm tapping loads of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico arrived late in the afternoon and persisted into the next day. At Toronto Pearson Airport, an impressive 43 hours of freezing rain and drizzle occurred between the evening on December 20 and late afternoon on December 22 while temperatures remained fairly constant hovering about a degree around freezing for 60 hours. Trenton registered 55 hours of freezing precipitation, while farther north – between Kincardine and Ottawa – snow and ice pellets fell with peaks of 18 cm of snow in Ottawa and 15 cm of ice pellets in Cornwall. In southwestern Ontario and along the north shore of Lake Erie, it was all rain with totals between 40 and 70 mm. In Montréal and Ste-Hyacinthe, it was mostly snow totaling 11 cm and 20 cm respectively while the Gaspésie received up to 65 cm of snow with strong winds. Freezing rain totals in Quebec ranged from 15 to 25 mm through the Richelieu Valley and in Sherbrooke, and in the central Maritimes freezing rain coated surfaces with 10 to 30 mm of ice.

Broken trees because of ice.

Because temperatures remained below freezing in the wake of the storm, there was little natural melting. Wind strengths also picked up resulting in ice-ladened tree branches snapping, crackling and bringing down power lines for a week afterward. Over half of those plunged into darkness were in the Toronto region, with Toronto Hydro calling it one of the largest ice storms in history. The icy weather left the city with a fractured transit system, a water pumping station out of commission and two major hospitals running on back-up generators. Community centres were opened to warm and feed thousands of citizens, while retailers struggled to remain open through one of the busiest and most profitable shopping weeks of the year.

In Quebec, 53,000 people lost power with most living in the Eastern Townships, Montérégie and Montréal. In the Maritimes, the hardest hit area was centred in Rothesay and St. Stephen, New Brunswick where several thousand residents faced off-and-on power interruptions. Electrical trucks from Michigan to Maine and as far west as Manitoba arrived to help, but restoring electricity proved to be slow and difficult as power crews trudged through deep snow, crossed slippery surfaces or manoeuvred debris piles to reach damaged areas. By Boxing Day more than 100,000 people in homes, businesses and farms were still without electricity.

The storm was thought to have played a factor in fatalities in Ontario and Quebec, including six fatal highway crashes and five deaths due to carbon monoxide poisoning resulting from the use of gas generators and other unsafe heating methods. Additional costs from worker overtime, spoiled food, and damaged homes, vehicles and public infrastructure is thought to exceed hundreds of millions of dollars. Irreplaceable is the loss of trees. In Toronto alone, some streets lost between 50 and 80 per cent of their mature canopy leaving large holes in the city’s urban forest.

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5. To Flood or Not to Flood?

Figure 5a. Map of Canada. Click for large map.

At the beginning of March, flood forecasters in Manitoba and Saskatchewan were worried that a record snowpack (triple the average in some places), thick river ice and a slower-than-normal thaw would collectively raise the flood threat. Whether the Red River Valley would be facing its third major flood in five years was up to yet-to-be-determined factors such as spring storms and the phasing of overland snowmelt with the ice break-up in ditches and rivers. On a positive note, there was less moisture in the soil when the ground froze the previous fall, meaning it had more capacity to absorb the runoff from the spring snowmelt. Flood fears continued to grow as stubborn winter weather lingered well into spring. By mid-April at least 70 per cent of the ground was still covered with snow. Further, spring snows were high in water content and were twice normal accumulations across the American/Canadian portions of the Red River Basin. Temperatures in March and April (barely above freezing during the day and frigid at night), were the coldest in 16 years, slowing the spring melt considerably and worsening the flood outlook along the Red, Assiniboine, Pembina, Souris and Qu’Appelle rivers.

Two ducks swimming in partially frozen water.

With Prairie rivers expected to peak about two to three weeks later than usual, officials were not sure what to wish for. On the one hand, a warm spring would get rid of the snow and ice before late April rain showers. A delayed thaw increases the risk of triggering a sudden and inevitable warm-up, ensuing melt, possible ice jamming, spring rains and an instant freshet. On the other hand, a cold spring can ease flooding by slowing the melt and letting melt water move gradually through the system. The water is more likely to move in stages – slowly overland, into ditches and rivers, out through tributaries and into the main, rather than all at once.

As it turned out, the potential epic flood didn’t happen. The insufferably frigid spring that Prairie residents had been cursing actually worked in their favour. The cold days and very cold nights slowed the disappearance of the late record snowpack, which had a calming effect, allowing a slow, gradual melt. Main rivers started flowing before their tributaries came rushing in, Canadian rivers ran their course before water from American watersheds arrived and multiple melt-stages instead of one large gush of water combined to deliver the best possible news.

A river thawing

By early May, the worst of the flood threat seemed to be over. River flow got underway as water levels in most tributaries were declining. A lot of snow simply evaporated or disappeared through sublimation, while melt water was absorbed by the ground. In addition, rivers were ice free and controlled river diversions helped eased the flood threat. While water levels were high in some regions, flood risks were certainly much lower than predicted only three weeks earlier and any flooding that did happen was manageable. That didn’t mean hard work and hardship were absent. Dire forecasts prompted communities from North Battleford to Winnipeg to rush preparations for the coming flood. Volunteers filled millions of bags with sand and dozens of Tiger dams (large flexible containers) with water. Work teams cleared culverts and catch basins, laid sandbags, dug channels, rerouted water and corralled the runoff with air-filled booms. Provincial water agencies also released more water from reservoirs to make room for the spring runoff.

Several dozen people had to leave their homes in First Nations communities across Saskatchewan and Manitoba. At times, roads were covered with water or washed out. Pumps worked continuously. In Saskatchewan, 14 communities were under states of emergency compared to 60 in 2011. Flood waters were blamed for a passenger train derailment in eastern Saskatchewan and closed a stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway between Indian Head and Whitewood, and the Yellowhead Highway near Radisson. The final disruption was a delay in seeding for farmers who had to wait several weeks for waterlogged fields to drain.

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6. Rebound in the Arctic Ocean and the Great Lakes

Figure6a. Map of Canada. Click for large map.

Arctic sea ice continued to make news in 2013. Satellite observations from the European Space Agency showed that in March and April – typically the time when the ice floes are at their thickest – the sea ice cap was larger than a year ago, but the volume (area x thickness) continued to decline as it has each year since 1979. Hitting a new record low in spring 2013, it was now half the volume that it was 30 years ago. Further, the University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado reported that multi-year ice more than four years old decreased from 18 per cent of the March peak ice cover in 1984 to three per cent in 2013. There was also some shipping news. China reported that, for the first time, one of its cargo ships had successfully plied the waters of the Northeast Passage along the northern coast of Russia, effectively cutting two weeks from its conventional route to the Netherlands. And just a week later, a Danish-owned cargo ship sailed for the first time through the Northwest Passage without incident.

There was even bigger news in September – a time when sea ice coverage usually reaches its minimum. While summer ice coverage varies widely from area to area and year to year, the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) reported that ice extents this year had recovered to somewhat closer to normal given that last September the ice cover shrunk to its lowest extent since satellite records began 34 years ago. Still, the ice was more than a million square km less than the 30-year average − the sixth smallest extent ever recorded and half of what the concentration was in the 1950s. Clearly, ice melting was slowed by cooler summer air temperatures and more cloud cover over most of the central Arctic Ocean, Greenland and the Canadian Archipelago. According to the NSIDC, summer air temperatures in the lower atmosphere were 0.5 to 2.0°C below average. Wind and storm patterns also affect ice conditions. In summer 2013, favourable winds caused the ice cover to spread out and cover a larger area.

Icebergs in the Arctic. © Environnement Canada Photo: Roger Prevost

In 2013, as reported by the Canadian Ice Service of Environment Canada, sea ice coverage in Canadian arctic waters (not including Hudson Bay) reached a minimum of 27.2 per cent (or 0.76 million square km) during the week of September 3. That’s only 2.8 per cent less than the 1981-2010 normal minimum coverage and the most ice coverage at the summer minimum point since 2005. In the Canadian portion of the Arctic Ocean, limited heat transport from the south slowed the ice melt and new ice began forming in the northern reaches near the end of August. Although the southern route of the Northwest Passage has been navigable since 2006, certain sections were difficult to navigate this year – just as they were in 2009 – and the northern route was closed to all ships except icebreakers. At the peak of ice coverage disappearance, ice extent along the northern route of the Northwest Passage was 9 per cent less than normal. The “rebounding” of the sea ice coverage from its record low of 2012 highlights the large interannual variability of both arctic sea ice and the global climate system.

At the beginning of the year, the Great Lakes were not looking so great.  Water levels on each of the lakes were well below their long-term average.  In fact, Lake Michigan-Huron was at its lowest level in recorded history. Too many warm record-dry seasons combined with year-round evaporation and half the ice cover of 30 years ago were to blame. Nature just couldn’t deliver enough runoff, rain and snow to counterbalance the moisture loss and outflows. In January, Lake Michigan-Huron dipped 1 cm below its previous record low monthly level set in March 1964. The water level was more than two metres below the lake’s record high set in October 1986 and lower than it had ever been for any month since modern record-keeping began in 1918. The lower lake levels and expanding shorelines spelled trouble for lakeside businesses, commercial shippers and the environment, and were leaving cottagers and recreational boaters high and dry. At the beginning of spring, water levels ranged from 17 cm below the 1918-2012 average in Lake Ontario to 68 cm below the long-term average for Lake Michigan-Huron, and were significantly lower than levels the same time last year. Levels and flows in connecting rivers were also lower than normal, including the St. Lawrence at Montreal where an exceptionally dry summer in 2012 resulted in record low water levels from July through September.

By summer of 2013 there was some good news – a snowy winter and a much wetter-than-normal spring resulted in water levels throughout the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River system rising significantly. This year was one of the top five wettest in 66 years and the Great Lakes levels responded with a welcome rise. All ended the year higher than they were at the same time last year. The level of Lake Ontario was a few centimetres above its 1918-2012 long-term average, and lakes Superior, St. Clair and Erie were within 15 cm of their long-term averages. While Lake Michigan-Huron remained 40 cm below the average, wet conditions kept it well above its record low levels. By the beginning of November, all the Great Lakes had gained between 10 and 31 cm relative to the monthly average over the course of the year. Downstream, levels in the St. Lawrence River also recovered, fluctuating around average values throughout much of the spring and early summer before falling somewhat below average during the late summer. Still, they were well above the record lows experienced the previous year.

Comparison of water levels at beginning-of-month compared to average (1918-2012)
LocationJanuaryNovember11 Month Recovery
Superior34 cm below7 cm below+27 cm
Michigan-Huron71 cm below40 cm below+31 cm
St. Clair39 cm below13 cm below+26 cm
Erie19 cm below1 cm below+18 cm
Ontario21 cm below7 cm above+28 cm

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7. Wicked Winter Weather Wallops the East

Figure 6a. Map of Canada. See large map for details.

At the end of the first week of February, a fast-moving weather disturbance from Alberta and a moist low from Texas began influencing weather across eastern North America when the two systems morphed into the biggest blast of winter weather in years. The Alberta clipper featured cold air from the Arctic while the Texas low packed tropical moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. Together the hybrid storm intensified into a blizzard of historic proportions with as much as 60 cm of snow falling along the Atlantic coast from New York City to Halifax and beyond. Millions of residents were affected on both sides of the border. For many in southern and eastern Ontario and southern Quebec, it was a one-day event that packed a punch with strong gusty northwesterly winds, and tons of blowing and drifting snow. At its worst, the storm dumped between 2 to 4 cm of snow every hour, wreaking havoc on roads, rail lines and runways. Snowfall amounts ranged between 25 and 35 cm, with the highest totals at St. Catharines (44 cm), Peterborough (41 cm), and on elevated terrain near the Great Lakes (35 cm). The storm left tragedy in its wake as four people in Ontario died amid treacherous roads and blinding blizzards. It also grounded 800 flights, stranded motor traffic, and shut down schools and universities, especially in the Toronto-Hamilton-Niagara area.

A highway covered in snow slows traffic.

In Toronto alone, the storm’s clean-up costs exceeded $4 million. Because the storm skirted the southern reaches of Quebec near the Canadian-American border, the province emerged from the wintry lashing comparatively unscathed. Snowfall totals ranged from 10 to 20 cm with Hemmingford recording up to 30 cm. Following the storm, wind chills dipped close to -30 in blowing snow. Road conditions deteriorated rapidly on February 8 and hundreds of motorists in Quebec were involved in collisions or ended up in a ditch. On a more positive note, the snowfall was a boon to Ontario and Quebec ski resorts.

People being blown by snow gusts.

Over Atlantic Canada, the storm got a second wind and turned into a powerful nor’easter energized by cold air to the north, warm air to the south and an infusion of energy from warm Gulf Stream waters. The worst of the storm was felt south of the border with as much as a metre of snowfall and hurricane-force winds cutting power to hundreds of thousands and leading to 18 deaths in New York and New England. Taking stock of the carnage, Maritimers prepared for the assault from the winter behemoth that brought the heaviest snowfall in years to Atlantic Canada on February 8 and 9. At one time on the weekend, it was snowing across the entire Maritimes. Nasty conditions shut down the region and every mode of transportation. Nova Scotia got the worst winds, upward of 140 km/h., while east of Yarmouth at Woods Harbour and Cape Sable Island extreme gusts peaked at 164 km/h. A storm surge at Shelburne, Nova Scotia was the biggest since a major storm nearly 40 years ago. The storm blew the roof off mobile homes and damaged the fronts of some retail stores. Many trees were toppled and power outages left thousands throughout the Maritimes in the dark. Snowfall amounts were highly variable, measuring as much as 66 cm at Debert and 50 cm in Greenwood with drifts metres deep, while Halifax received 26 cm and Sydney 31cm. The storm surge at high tide flooded roads, damaged docks and shore buildings, and lifted boats onto wharves on Cape Sable Island. The majority of flights at Halifax were cancelled and nearly all Marine Atlantic ferries stayed tethered to shore over the weekend. In places, chunks of floating ice and large rocks were pushed or tossed onshore landing on the front steps of homes and shops. Snowplows were used to clear highways of rocks and gravel.The epic storm continued its journey eastward, bringing blustery winds and snow to Newfoundland and Labrador. By February 10, between 15 and 40 cm of snow fell amidst wind gusts of more than 100 km/h that pummelled the province. Even after crossing the Atlantic, the dying stormstill had the power to dump 15 cm of snow on Ireland and the United Kingdom between February 15 and 18, inflicting major travel disruptions and flooding.

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8. Spring Flooding in Ontario’s Cottage Country

Figure8a. Map of Canada. Click for large map.

A burst of spring weather in mid-April pushed temperatures into the 20s across southern and central Ontario. The unseasonably warm and unstable air triggered Canada’s first tornado of the season on April 18 around Shelburne, Ontario. More significantly, the warm, moist air led to major flooding north and east of Georgian Bay in Ontario’s cottage country. In addition, copious amounts of warm rain melted a later-than-normal snowpack in Algonquin Park and the surrounding woodland. With rain coming down in torrents − nearly 90 mm in two days − steam billowed from the ground. The ensuing melt water and rains funnelled quickly into rivers, lakes and streams causing some of the highest and fastest rising water levels in recent memory – as much as 3 m in 24 hours. At one dam in the Kawarthas flood waters sped at a rate of 8,700 m3/s – vastly more powerful than the previous record rate of 5,200 m3/s. It was estimated that river volumes exceeded a 100-year occurrence.

Cottages in water

Authorities quickly declared states of emergency in eight regions across central Ontario from the south end of Algonquin Park to the Kawartha Lakes, including the towns of Huntsville, Bracebridge, Haliburton and Bancroft. The flooding forced evacuations, with 1,000 residents being displaced in Bracebridge alone. Hundreds more were trapped in their homes by surrounding water. The fast-rising waters breached dams sending crushing ice into boat houses and docks, and inundating dozens of properties under a metre of water. Scores of streets, roads, culverts and highways in several mid-Ontario towns were flooded. And a huge sinkhole on Highway 11, south of Huntsville, forced traffic to detour. During the worst of the flood, the popular Deer Lake Resort Park was nearly three-quarters underwater. Power was shut off for several days as a safety precaution. The resulting damages totalled several millions of dollars.

Un lac au crepuscule

The historic flood was due to a combination of partially frozen ground, later-than-usual snowmelt, persistent lake ice and, largely, heavy warm rains over two or more days. Before temperatures shot above 20°C, early spring temperatures were averaging as much as five degrees colder than normal. That left the still frozen ground unable to handle the sudden overflow of water. A protracted warm spell in the final two weeks of April saw temperatures climb two and a half degrees warmer than normal. Just north of Bracebridge, a weather station in Beatrice, Ontario with a 137-year record lost almost 48 cm of snowpack in three weeks before nearly 100 mm of rain soaked the region over three days, including 55 mm on the 18th – the wettest April day ever. The total monthly rainfall of 169 mm also set a new April record.

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9. Prairie Winter Went on Forever

Figure 9a. Map of Canada. Click to see large map.

Environment Canada considers the months of December through February as winter. Tell that to Canadians on the Prairies, where cold, snow and ice went on for seven months from October 2012 to April 2013, inclusive – the longest and coldest period in 16 years. Snows came early, stayed late and never disappeared. As a result, it felt and looked like winter from before Thanksgiving to a month after Easter. And with deep snow on the ground any warm-up was stalled until late May. At times, March and April felt colder than January and February. Perhaps the cruelest day of many was the first day of spring on March 20, which started a period of 30+ days of below normal temperatures. Also on that day, snow on the ground was at record or near-record depths:  Fort McMurray 51 cm; Peace River 33 cm; Regina 107 cm; Weyburn 32 cm; Brandon 77 cm; and Winnipeg 55 cm. Entrenched Arctic air combined with an unseasonably late snow cover led to new record minimum temperatures day-after-day well into spring. For example, Regina’s minimum temperature on April 29 was the coldest in Canada – more typical of temperatures at the end of January. In fact, it was the coldest April 29 since record-keeping began in 1884. Snow cover in Regina made the record books too! On April 1 and 25, the city’s snow cover measured 62 cm and 30 cm respectively – the most ever recorded on those days since observations began in 1955.

Hay bales covered with snow in a snow covered field.

Other highlights from winter’s seven-month stretch included: 

  • Humongous snowfalls – from Grande Prairie to Winnipeg, snowfall consistently averaged between 50 and 100 per cent above normal. Regina owned bragging rights to snowfall amounts, with one weather station measuring seasonal snowfall at 207 cm – more than any other winter going back to 1883. The previous extreme was 195 cm in winter 1955-56. On average, the city experiences one or two days a year with more than 10 cm of snowfall. This year, there were nine days with amounts ranging from 10 to 20 cm.
  • Record snow depth and endurance – on April 19, snow on the ground varied widely across Saskatchewan but generally measured 30 to 60 cm – likely the deepest since records began in 1955. Some areas went into May with snow on the ground. Although there’s been snowfall in May and June before it’s never stayed on the ground for so long. Of note, a weather station 25 km north of Edmonton had snow cover on 170 consecutive days from November 8 to April 26.
  • Persistent cold – between March 1 and April 30, the average temperature in Regina was -8°C; eleven degrees colder than the previous year and the coldest period in 113 years. Saskatoon recorded its second coldest March-April in 65 years. Further, residents didn’t see temperatures above 10°C for 189 consecutive days − the longest stretch on record. And the city had a whopping 57 days with temperatures below -20°C compared to just 15 cold days last year. In Winnipeg, the average temperature finally climbed above freezing for the first time in 25 weeks on April 26. The mean temperature for that month was -2.1°C, tying for the third coldest since records began in 1872. Edmonton International Airport reported 50 days with minimum temperatures below -20°C, compared to 20 such days last year. Between October 16 and April 24 there was only one day without a freezing temperature (January 15) spanning more than six months.
Prairie dog peeking out of its hole surrounded by snow.

After more than half a year of tough winter weather Prairie residents were clearly fed up, feeling both its physical and psychological strains. An inordinate number of people of all ages suffered broken legs, ankles and worse while navigating the frozen terrain. And, sadly, the long harsh winter doubled the number of cases of animal neglect as reported by the Saskatchewan SPCA. Winterkill was also partly to blame for a huge loss of bees in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The prolonged winter was especially costly for governments. By the end of January, Saskatchewan had already spent $6 million more than usual on snow and ice control with much more to come. Bitterly cold temperatures at the end of January played a part in setting a new record for power usage in the province as residents spent 10 per cent more on energy to stay warm and comfortable. The unusually late arrival of warm weather delayed the start of seeding by at least two weeks, and increased concern about the possibility of even longer delays because of the likelihood of widespread spring flooding.

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10. Stormy Seas and Maritime Tragedy

Figure 10a. Map of Canada. Click for large map.

In a month of frequent winter storms across eastern North America, none was more tragic than the powerful storm that led to the drowning of five young fishermen off Nova Scotia on February 17. The deadly storm was the third one in two weeks but not the largest or most powerful. Still, it had the intensity of a Category 1 to 2 hurricane. The low travelled northward up the United States eastern seaboard and became rejuvenated over the relatively warm waters of the Gulf of Maine. For Nova Scotia, the storm featured a mixed bag of wet snow, rain and freezing rain making it especially challenging for road crews scraping away the crunchy frozen slush. New Brunswick received only snow – 30 cm in the southeast.

Ship navigating through turbulent waters

Everywhere along the coast, winds were gusty and strong, approaching 160 km/h in western Cape Breton Island and 180 km/h across southwestern Newfoundland and Labrador. Across the Maritimes, thousands of customers lost power and inter-city bus services were cancelled. Numerous flights in and out of Halifax and Saint John airports were delayed or cancelled. A host of community programs and services closed, including colleges, schools, daycares, public libraries and medical offices. Blood shortages reached critical lows as foul weather continued to close clinics and keep potential donors at home.

Fishing Ship surrounded by icy water

Turbulent seas along the Nova Scotia coast created treacherous conditions with 10 metre waves and high winds. Sadly, in the midst of hurricane force winds and zero visibility the Miss Ally from Woods Harbour and her five member crew of fishers went down in heavy seas. The five young halibut fishers lost their lives as conditions severely hampered massive search and rescue efforts.

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Runner-up Stories

  1. Sunny and Rainless in BC
  2. Newfoundland’s Old-time Blizzard
  3. Early February Atlantic Storm
  4. Highway Mayhem near Edmonton
  5. Fort McMurray Flooding
  6. Manitoba’s Wild July Storms
  7. Few Wildfires but Large Burn
  8. Eastern Canada’s Short Summer
  9. Fogtober on the Pacific Coast
  10. American Thanksgiving Storm Blows into Canada
  11. Quiet Storm Season Surprises Hurricane Forecasters
  12. Classic Prairie Blizzard

1. Sunny and Rainless in BC

It is hard to imagine a better month of weather along the Pacific coast than in July 2013, which featured continuous sunshine and not a single drop of rain in either Vancouver or Victoria. The long stretch of perfect weather actually began around the first day of summer on June 21 thanks to a massive ridge of high pressure that sat stationary over the West coast and relentlessly pumped cloudless desert air from the southwest United States into British Columbia. On the south coast and in the BC Interior, daily temperatures soared in late June with little cooling during the short summer nights. Several stations set record warm overnight lows, including 16.5°C at Vancouver and 15.9°C at Victoria on June 29 that eclipsed records set in 2008. And on June 28, afternoon temperatures soared above 42°C in Kamloops, Lytton and Osoyoos.

July was Vancouver’s sunniest on record with almost 411 hours of bright sunshine, surpassing the 388-hour record set in 1985 (sunshine recordings began in 1953). Further, “Raincouver” set a record for its driest July, having never gone an entire month without at least a trace of rain (i.e. less than 0.2 mm). Even a July with only traces of rain is relatively rare with only two instances since record-keeping began: six traces in 1951 and two in 1985. The city’s dry spell began on June 28 and lasted 34 days – a good stretch but no comparison to Vancouver’s two longest rain-free summers. The most recent lasted 52 days during Expo 86 – between July 18 and September 7 – and included two trace amounts; the other ran a little longer with 58 rain-free days between June 14 and August 10, 1951 and six traces.

Victoria also broke and tied records for its sunniest and driest months, with 432.8 hours of bright sunshine and zero rainfall respectively. July was the sunniest month ever with records dating back to 1968. And at Victoria International Airport, no rainfall was measured in July – not even a trace. It was only the second time that there had been a rain-free July. The first was in 1958 when there were no days with measureable rain or traces over 33 days from June 30 to August 1. Several other cities in the province set records for their driest July in 2013: Vernon experienced 1.1 mm of rain; Revelstoke 6.2 mm; and Kamloops had a mere wetting at 0.6 mm. Adding to July’s spectacle were unexpectedly comfortable temperatures given the record dry and sunny skies. In Vancouver, temperatures averaged 18.3°C – a mere 0.3°C warmer than normal.

July’s delightful weather was good news for restaurants with patios but left many scrambling to find enough staff to work the overflow traffic. On the flip side, typical foul-weather venues such as museums, malls and movie theatres experienced a dip in attendance. The lack of rain was also a boon for beach lovers and campers, although it did put Vancouver Island and the BC Lower Mainland on a high forest-fire alert. Surprisingly, the water supply in Greater Vancouver was only slightly lower than previous years with reservoir water levels at 85 per cent and no air-quality advisories were issued for the region.

As a side note, Vancouver just squeaked into the record books. Within minutes of rain-free July coming to an end, the skies opened up making it a very close call.

2. Newfoundland’s Old-time Blizzard

On January 9, a slow-moving Atlantic storm situated over the Gulf of St. Lawrence began tracking south of Newfoundland and Labrador, powering up as it moved over the Grand Banks. Widespread storm conditions, reminiscent of nasty blizzards of the past, persisted over the eastern portion of the province for three days beginning on January 10. The storm caused whiteouts and heavy drifting, prompting police to urge drivers to stay off the roads. In St. John’s, life came to a virtual standstill as residents soon got buried in waist-deep snows. Intercity bus service was disrupted. Scores of schools, businesses, clinics and government offices closed early. The winds tore roofs from buildings and kept ferries tied up at wharfs. Amidst high winds of 110 km/h and record snows, St. John’s International Airport shut down affecting 160 flights and 8,000 passengers. A lack of power at the water treatment plant caused concerns over water quality. For 70,000 residents from the Avalon and Burin peninsulas in the east to Corner Brook on the west side of the Island, power went out leaving some customers without lights and heat for more than three days. The strongest winds blew on Sagona Island at 139 km/h. Snow-clearing crews faced the arduous task of removing 52 cm of snow off roadways only to have it blow back into two-metre drifts. When the weather turned milder with freezing drizzle and rain, snow on the ground became heavy, slowing clean-up efforts. St. John’s director of Public Works and Parks said it was one of the worst storms he’d seen in his 18-year career.

3. Early February Atlantic Storm

A low-pressure centre that developed south of Nova Scotia on February 4 intensified as it passed east of Cape Breton, bringing an assortment of messy precipitation and high winds to Atlantic Canada. By evening, the storm tracked over southwestern Newfoundland and the next day through Central Labrador. Ahead of the storm’s centre, some Maritime locations reported rain and freezing rain that later turned to snow and blowing snow. Snowfall amounts ranged from 20 to 30 cm, with higher amounts in northern Nova Scotia and more than 50 cm in the Cobequid Hills. The inclement weather forced the cancellation of several community events, led to school and retail closures, the suspension of countless flights and the halting of ferry services. Winds were highest in southwestern Nova Scotia, with the strongest measured at 164 km/h south of Yarmouth in Woods Harbour. Along the south shore, a storm surge topped with high waves caused flooding; in Halifax a high water level of 2.76 metres was among the top five ever recorded in the harbour. Moving along, the storm struck Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula but saved its biggest wallop for Labrador with winds topping 113 km/h and snowfall totals of 53 cm at Goose Bay and 63 cm at Nain. After-effects of the storm included coastal flooding (storm surge coincident with high tides) in the Burin Peninsula, school closings, the halting of ferry crossings for two days and widespread power outages – especially in the Northern Peninsula.

4. Highway Mayhem near Edmonton

On the first full day of spring, a slow-moving upper low parked itself over central Alberta initiating a prolonged period of heavy snow. Weather observing stations in west Edmonton and Stoney Plain recorded 25 cm of snow, while northwest of the city Westlock was hit with more than 40 cm. Near Edmonton International Airport, strong northwesterly winds gusting to 50 km/h created whiteout conditions on Highway 2 at Leduc. The storm happened on one of the busiest days of the year, when spring break travel makes the airport almost as busy as Christmas. Owing to the poor visibility and icy road surfaces, the RCMP closed a 60-km stretch of the highway where dozens of cars, trucks and semi-trailers had either jackknifed across the highway or swerved across shoulders to avoid further wreckage in chain-reaction mayhem involving more than 100 vehicles. One eighteen-wheeler caught in the carnage was carrying 74 head of cattle. Firefighters commandeered seven buses on the highway and used them as temporary shelters and a triage centre, while paramedics treated more than 100 injuries and area hospitals were placed on Code Orange. Efforts to shovel the blowing snow and clear the twisted metal lasted for three days. At the same time, a head-on collision in Westlock tragically killed three people.

5. Fort McMurray Flooding

During the second week of June, several days of heavy rains from a slow-moving weather system dumped between 80 and 180 mm of rain in and around Fort McMurray, Alberta. On June 8 and 9, a month’s worth of rain fell in just two days. At the same time, unseasonably warm temperatures triggered a rapid snow melt that left the cold ground saturated with surplus water that had nowhere to go. Local rivers burst their sides, eroding huge chunks of river bank, and the Hangingstone River – which flows through Fort McMurray – reached its highest level in 100 years. Fast-moving waters covered highways with oozing mud and debris and pockmarked road surfaces with sinkholes. Engineers moved quickly to install concrete barriers along river sides to prevent further erosion. Regional roads became partially impassible and rushing waters washed out a bridge south of Fort McMurray and inundated two major parks and several neighbourhoods in the city. Rising waters also cut off travel to and from the Athabasca oil sands. Officials declared a local state of emergency and a boil water order for Fort McMurray and surrounding areas, and 500 residents were evacuated from a local trailer park and nearby homes when basements flooded and streets became impassable.

6. Manitoba’s Wild July Storms

A line of wild thunderstorms, including two tornadoes, ripped through southeastern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba on July 13 and 14. Hail piled 12 cm deep was still visible three hours later. In Saskatchewan, the storm packed quite a wallop with grapefruit-sized hail, punishing winds and flooding rains. In the Rural Municipality of Pipestone, Manitoba, fierce winds ripped away roofs, snapped power lines, toppled trees onto cars and demolished a portion of the town’s arena. Golf ball-sized hail smashed through car windows and caused 400 hectares of crop losses. Hailstorm damage was so severe that some areas experienced 100 per cent crop loss and the greatest total losses for the year from severe weather. Reston, Manitoba saw 42 mm of rain fall in less than an hour. On July 15, it was the second time in just three days that severe storms pummelled parts of southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba drenching roads, damaging property and triggering tornadoes. Environment Canada confirmed that four tornadoes touched down southeast of Regina near Kronau and Gray, west of Yorkton and north of Humboldt, where they destroyed grain bins and damaged a barn. On July 18, a tornado touched down in the Sioux Valley First Nation community west of Brandon. Winds tore the roof off a house and uprooted several trees on a golf course near Shilo. Three days later yet another tornado touched down in southwest Manitoba between the communities of Deloraine and Boissevain, not far from where another tornado blew a few days earlier and where a tornado hit Pipestone a week earlier. The latest storm featured both twisting and straight-line winds estimated up to 170 km/h that flattened crops, snapped trees and unroofed buildings.

7. Few Wildfires but Large Burn

It was quiet on the forest fire front in 2013. There were no catastrophic wildfires and according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, the number of wildfires recorded by September 1 was relatively low – 5,654 compared to the 10-year average of 6,750. But the number of fires alone didn’t tell the whole story; the area on fire was well above normal with 3,646,304 hectares burning compared to the 10-year average of 1,942,073 hectares. With fires it’s all about location, location, location. This year’s hot spots were in remote and isolated regions away from valuable commercial timber. In fact, most of the fires occurred in the two western territories and the northern reaches of the provinces, as well as specific locations in the Maritimes and British Columbia. The majority were allowed to burn on their own without immediate and aggressive attack or suppression.

Hot and dry conditions (the driest in 40 years) through June and early July in central and northern Quebec triggered an outbreak of wildfires in the James Bay area. In late June, the threat of fires and thick smoke prompted the evacuation of hundreds of residents from a couple of mine sites and five communities, the largest being Eastmain. Officials closed the main highway to James Bay, which hampered delivery of food and other supplies to village stores. On July 3 and 4, fires threatened hydro transmission lines when smoke particles triggered numerous power failures. The automatic shutdowns caused a cascading effect on the province’s power grid, including an evening rush-hour closure of the Montreal metro system. Several buildings in the city’s core, including hospitals and the stock exchange tower, had to be evacuated. Smoke from blazes blanketed Québec City and Montréal and reached as far south as Toronto and east to Halifax. Curiously, the only smog days in Ontario in 2013 were a direct result of fires from Quebec. Things settled down around July 10 when a storm brought 30 to 70 mm of rain, which was enough to extinguish flames in the Grande Rivière and Chibougamau regions.

In western Labrador, states of emergency were in effect for more than a week in June due to forest fires. On June 24, with persistent high winds fanning and spreading flames, fires forced people to evacuate cabins near Labrador City and closed the Trans-Canada Highway. When the blaze came within 8 km of Wabush Lake and thick smoke threatened people’s health, officials moved quickly to evacuate 2,000 residents. The smoke also drifted into the Maritimes prompting health and air quality warnings.

For residents of Perth-Andover, New Brunswick early June usually brings threats of ice jamming or spring flooding. Not this year! A major wildfire raged in a province that was bone dry after an unusually hot spring and almost two weeks without rain. The arrival of cool, wet weather on June 8 was greeted with a collective sigh of relief by provincial firefighters.

Not long after the last traces of snow melted away in early May, Alberta sprang into wildfire vigilance. With record temperatures, gusty winds, tinder-dry brush and grass that hadn’t yet greened up, the province’s wildfire crews were on high alert. The threat was especially high in the central and northwestern parts of the province. On May 12, about 200 residents from Nordegg and Lodgepole were evacuated to Rocky Mountain House as blazes edged close to the two communities. But just as flames came close to the nationally historic Brazeau Collieries mine site, cool rains and light winds calmed things down.

British Columbia should have been on fire given record sunny and dry conditions in early and mid-summer. The fact it was not hot and lightning-filled saved the day and kept fire crews watching but not fighting. Following July’s record dry sunny weather, however, the forest fire threat grew dramatically when lightning started striking in early August. Campfire bans were in effect along the coast and in southeastern parts of the province, as well as in Kamloops and the Cariboo. Because August rains were a mere spritzing, the fire danger remained high to extreme. The provincial Wildfire Management Branch responded to 1,818 wildfires across the province but very few posed threats to people and nearby infrastructure.

Firefighters in Yukon and the Northwest Territories had a busy year owing to warm and dry conditions during spring and summer and late into September. For example, spring precipitation in the Mackenzie basin was the third driest in 66 years. At times, the fire danger rating was high in the Yukon, prompting the public to exercise caution around campfires. In the Northwest Territories, the fire season started earlier and lasted longer than usual. All regions in the territory were very dry and at times hot, which meant fire behaviour was more extreme and fires more difficult to extinguish as they burned deep in the forest duff layer of leaves, twigs and other organic materials. Several of the fires were close to communities and threatened infrastructure. One fire in early September melted fibre optic cables that caused phone and internet disruptions. On occasion, Yellowknifers could smell smoke from nearby wildfires.

8. Eastern Canada’s Short Summer

Canadians in the East were beginning to think summer would never come. Spoiled by last year’s scorcher − the warmest on record in 65 years of observations – this year seemed like a cruel joke with hot weather showing up for only one week in July and a brief encore in September. Due to cool days at the beginning and end of the season, it marked one of the shortest warm seasons in years. For those few days when it was hot, it was sizzling and stifling over Ontario, Quebec and parts of Atlantic Canada. Complaints of ‘where is summer’ to ‘too much summer’ came fast and furious.

Summer’s brief appearance was credited to a Bermuda high pressure centre positioned farther north and west that pushed southerly winds with heat and humidity from the Gulf of Mexico northward. Between July 15 and 19, humidex readings in Ontario and Quebec exceeded the uncomfortable and unhealthy level of 40 for several hours each day and the UV index hit 10 and above more often than not. Officials urged people to check on neighbours – especially the elderly and those with chronic illnesses. The season’s first, longest and only heat wave sent paramedics scrambling and overloaded emergency rooms as temperatures soared to 35°C and night-time readings stayed consistently above 20°C. Given the extreme heat advisories, it was surprising that there were no smog days. Ontario had only two smog days in 2013 compared to 30 the year before. In southern Quebec, daytime temperatures reached 30 to 35°C for seven consecutive days between Gatineau and Gaspé and did not drop below 20°C for several nights. The hot spot was Beauport, a suburb of Quebéc City, which registered a steamy 38.6°C on July 15. Two deaths in Quebec possibly connected with the extreme heat were investigated by health officials. The province’s heat wave came to an end on July 19 when a severe thunderstorm knocked out the hot and humid weather. At the height of the storm, 500,000 homes were without power. Winds of over 100 km/h knocked over trees, which damaged power lines and structures and caused one death in Boucherville.

They were feeling the heat early in July in New Brunswick when 16 weather records were set between July 5 and 6 – many being high daily minimum temperatures. Adding to the steamy heat was evaporation from weeks of excessive rain. At Fredericton, officials wisely cancelled the “changing of the guard” ceremony owing to the heat. The early warmth was a rehearsal for a more intense heat burst 10 days later when temperatures soared to the mid-30s. At Kouchibouguac, the local weather station recorded a high of 37.3°C. That was only 2.1°C away from the highest temperature ever set in the province on August 18, 1935, when both Woodstock and Rexton reached a broiling 39.4°C. The extreme hot and dry weather prompted restrictions on burning and campfires in numerous parks. Nova Scotia and PEI were also embroiled in the excessive heat with temperatures at Summerside climbing to 33.7°C and to 34.6°C at both Bedford and Malay Falls. Newfoundland wasn’t left out in the cold. St. John’s recorded an astounding 31.2°C and a sultry humidex of 35 on July 15. It was the second highest temperature ever recorded in the provincial capital city.

Temperatures in the East cooled off after that, with the exception of a last blast of summer heat in the first part of September. Toronto’s medical officer of health issued a heat alert on September 10 as the temperature exceeded 34°C without the humidity – impressive at that late date. And four cities in southwestern Ontario from Windsor to Waterloo broke records for the highest maximum temperatures recorded for any day in September after the 10th. Sarnia was the hottest at 35.9°C.

An upside to the scarce summer was the relatively low number of West Nile virus cases. Only 105 people had tested positive for West Nile virus infection by October 5, down from more than 400 at the same time last year. A cool spring and so-so summer with less heat and sunshine is not ideal for mosquito breeding. The weather also tempted fewer people to spend time outdoors which meant less exposure to mosquitoes.

9. Fogtober on the Pacific Coast

Thick fog blanketed British Columbia's Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island for a week to 10 days in mid-October, making for one of the longest periods of fog ever seen in the region during that month. A stationary, strong ridge of high pressure stalled over the coast trapping air rich in moisture at the surface. With minimal wind and little rain, there was nothing to blow or wash the fog away. At times, day-time warming would thin the fog and low cloud allowing for the occasional sunny break. But with the onset of nightfall, cool overnight temperatures would serve to build it right back up again. Above the cloud deck, in places like Burnaby Mountain, conditions were mostly clear. Inland the fog wreaked havoc leading to some early morning accidents that included one fatality. It also forced the cancellation of dozens of ferry trips, and was responsible for hundreds of flight delays and cancellations. The stagnant air mass led to extensive fog and patchy drizzle through many of the province’s interior valleys. Vancouver recorded thick fog with visibility below 1 km on eight of nine days for 122 hours between October 17 and 25. This included a string of 45 consecutive hours with “pea soup” fog. On average, Vancouver experiences this type of fog for only 16 hours in October. Conditions in Victoria mirrored that of Vancouver, which amounted to three times its usual October total.

10. American Thanksgiving Storm Blows into Canada

A sprawling moist storm tracked along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States on November 26 and 27, spreading heavy snows into Eastern Ontario and Quebec and drenching rains and blustery winds across Atlantic Canada. The storm had a much bigger impact south of the border given that an estimated 37 million Americans were heading home for Thanksgiving on what is typically the busiest travel week of the year. A nasty mess of rain, ice pellets, snow and freezing rain from Texas to Maine clogged various interstate highways and grounded flights from Chicago to New York. Commuters in and around Toronto confronted an overnight dusting of wet snow and slush on November 27. Heading east, Oshawa snowfall amounts hit 10 cm and areas from Brighton to Brockville experienced up to 20 cm. Ottawa and surrounding areas took the brunt of the storm with up to 25 cm, which caused numerous school bus cancellations due to poor visibility and hazardous driving conditions. For many centres in Eastern Ontario and Quebec it was the first significant snowfall of the winter. Montréal was right on the cusp of rain, freezing rain and snow. And while Trudeau International Airport got half the snowfall total of Ottawa, areas west and north of the airport received between 20 and 30 cm. In Gaspé, it was 40 to 90 mm of rain and for Québec City, Charlevoix and Baie Comeau it was freezing rain that made for some very icy roads. Across eastern Quebec, winds howled with gusts clocked from 100 to 125 km/h at Cap-de-la-Madeleine.

The big storm then lashed Atlantic Canada with driving rain and high winds. Along the Atlantic coast, high wave warnings were issued. In New Brunswick, the storm started with snow – especially in the northern part of the province – but it was all rain in PEI and Nova Scotia and it was heavy at times. Power outages were reported in parts of all the Atlantic provinces, with 38,000 customers down in Nova Scotia alone. The storm also wreaked havoc on roadways and tangled up hundreds of flights and ferries, with winds restricting traffic across the Confederation Bridge. Among the locations most buffeted and soaked were: Saint John with 90 km/h wind gusts and 90 mm of rain; Newfoundland’s west coast where winds gusted up to 130 km/h, trees blew down and a number of schools were closed; and Corner Brook, where rain filled culverts and streams overflowed, and debris running in raging brooks caused blockages and overflows.

11. Quiet Storm Season Surprises Hurricane Forecasters

In the beginning, conditions seemed favourable for yet another busy hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean. In May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States predicted as many as 20 named tropical storms over the next six months; between 7 and 11 of them hurricanes and 3 to 6 becoming major storms with winds in excess of 178 km/h. In fact, the season played out very differently. By the end of November, only 13 named tropical storms, from Andrea to Melissa, had formed and only two − Humberto and Ingrid – reached hurricane speeds. Both were in September and very weak. While 13 named storms is about average for a season, which spans June 1 to November 30, the number of hurricanes and major hurricanes was well below average. How inactive was the 2013 storm season? The last time we had one without a major hurricane was 1994 and it was the first time in 45 years that no storm made it beyond 153 km/h – the upper limit of wind speed for a Category 1 hurricane. It also featured the fewest hurricanes since 1982. Overall, it was the fifth weakest season since modern hurricane tracking began about half a century ago.

The start of the season was on track with the birth of Tropical Storm Andrea over the Gulf of Mexico on June 5. Two days later it evolved into a post-tropical storm. Throughout its life, it was almost exclusively a rain event. On June 8 and 9, Andrea tracked south of Newfoundland and Labrador bringing wet weather to much of the island. Generally, total storm rainfall reached between 40 and 50 mm; however, in some localities twice that amount fell. New Brunswick’s Grand Manan Island was especially sodden after more than 90 mm of rain fell and Tantallon, near Peggy’s Cove, received the greatest rainfall at 132 mm. In Halifax, police responded to a number of collisions (mostly fender-benders) as water covered roads. Moderately strong winds gusting to 70 km/h temporarily knocked out power to thousands of customers across the Maritimes and, for a brief time, strong winds restricted high-sided vehicles from crossing the Confederation Bridge. In Newfoundland, the Burin Peninsula experienced the most rain from Storm Andrea with Winterland receiving 58 mm.

August was free of Atlantic hurricanes for only the sixth time since 1944. During September, tropical storm Gabrielle – the second tropical storm to affect residents of Atlantic Canada – departed Bermuda on the 11th. Like Andrea, Gabrielle was a rain event, soaking parts of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. The storm dumped as much as 60 mm of rain on parts of Nova Scotia and winds gusted up to 70 km/h on the eastern mainland and Cape Breton Island. Rainfall totals were the greatest over Charlottetown (59 mm), Western Head (71 mm) and Parrsboro (73 mm). About the same time Humberto − one of the season’s only two hurricanes − remained 2,000 km offshore posing no threat to Canada or the United States. On September 13, the remnants of Tropical Storm Gabrielle combined with a broad area of low pressure over the Maritimes, yielding significant and highly variable rainfall to much of western and northern Newfoundland. Cow Head recorded the most precipitation − 75 mm of rain on September 13 and 14. The Northern Peninsula community of Englee followed close behind with a total of 74 mm.

Scientists suggested several reasons for tropical storm inactivity in 2013. Sea-surface temperatures were nowhere as warm as they were in 2012. Further, winds and pressure patterns were less favourable for the formation and growth of tropical storms. And upper-level air currents that push storms northward were farther east than usual this year, keeping many tropical storms out to sea and away from the North American coast. Also of note, the tropics experienced unusually low levels of moisture – the driest in three decades – and a persistent downward motion in the atmosphere kept the tropics relatively cloud free. Curiously, another likely factor contributing to storm suppression was a large infusion of dry dusty air blown over the Atlantic Ocean from North Africa’s Sahara Desert that snuffed weather events before they could grow into tropical storms.

12. Classic Prairie Blizzard

A triple winter threat of snow, wind and cold descended across southern Alberta and Saskatchewan during the first days of December. Blizzard conditions prevailed over the region for hours, paralyzing communities and forcing snow plow operators off the highways in unsafe conditions. Between December 1 and 4, Calgary recorded over 50 consecutive hours of snow, much of it blown by winds gusting as high as 74 km/h that caused restricted visibility lasting for 20 hours or more. It began with a massive storm centred over Idaho and Montana that dumped 20 to 40 cm of snow across southern and central Alberta. A strong Arctic ridge of high pressure over Alaska and Yukon combined to produce some powerful wind gusts approaching 90 km/h that blew the fresh snow into blinding whiteouts and 2.5 m drifts. Mercifully, the snows ended and winds lightened up in time for an enduring deep freeze to set in behind the departing storm. Wind chill readings dipped to -46 – cold enough to freeze exposed flesh in about five minutes. At Lethbridge, the temperature fell to -34°C, which was even colder than the North Pole. The blizzard wasn’t the season’s first blast of winter, but it was the most potent. Authorities closed portions of major highways blocked by either barriers of snow or several multi-vehicle collisions. On Calgary roads and highways alone there were nearly 300 crashes. Residents of the city spent hours shovelling snow and digging out from towering snow drifts. The storm also prompted hundreds of flight cancellations or delays, shut schools and caused headaches for Canada Post as mail delivery became impossible in some blockaded neighbourhoods. At Canada Olympic Park, the ski hill was closed due to high winds and dangerous wind chill. Moving into Saskatchewan, the storm added some freezing precipitation to the blowing, snowing mix that created driving treachery along and south of the Trans-Canada Highway.

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Atlantic Regional Highlights

  1. January Ends Warm, Windy and Snowless
  2. Fog on Fogo
  3. Early Spring Flooding
  4. Newfoundland’s Victoria Weekend Snowfall
  5. New Brunswick Tornado
  6. New Brunswick Soaker
  7. August Soaker
  8. Blustery Labour Day Weekend
  9. Badger Loses Power in Storm

1. January Ends Warm, Windy and Snowless

In late January, an intense weather system blanketed the Maritimes with rain, fierce winds and mild air that set record high temperatures. Charlottetown broke its old January 31 record when temperatures soared to 11.2°C. The city also set a near record for the least amount of snow in January − a mere 15 cm. In Nova Scotia, the sudden warmth forced major ski hills to close and backyard ice rinks to melt away. High winds in excess of 100 km/h blew down construction scaffolding in Halifax and delayed flights. High winds also wreaked havoc in Saint John as near hurricane-force wind gusts tore pieces off building roofs and pushed ocean waves over city roads. Across New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI, thousands of residents lost power.

2. Fog on Fogo

No one got off Newfoundland’s Fogo Island for five days at the end of February because heavy ice conditions and dense fog shut down ferry and air travel. The Island’s school closed, stores ran low on supplies and residents were unable to attend off-island medical appointments. Feelings of isolation and frustration only increased as strong winds blew more fog in on the Island instead of blowing it away.

3. Early Spring Flooding

A moist weather system tracked slowly across New Brunswick on March 13 setting rainfall records in Moncton, Saint John, Fredericton and Gagetown. Upwards of 30 cm of snow on the ground melted in a day or two. Heavy rains, snowmelt runoff and ice jams sent flood alerts up and down the Saint John River. Residents kept a close watch on a large ice jam on the Nashwaak River, nervous it would spill its banks. On the 15th, residents in Stanley, north of Fredericton, confronted the town’s worst flooding in about 40 years amidst rushing water and massive chunks of ice.

4. Newfoundland’s Victoria Weekend Snowfall

A slow-moving low-pressure system south of Newfoundland brought inclement weather to much of the Island during the May long weekend. Rain and fog prevailed over the Avalon Peninsula, while significant snow fell on higher terrain. Gander was hardest hit with 58 cm over 26 hours. May’s previous record total was 49 cm in 1972 and average May snowfall is 13 cm. Needless to say, the heavy, wet snow put a damper on long-weekend activities, although some campers stuck it out and children entertained themselves with snow forts instead of campfires.

5. New Brunswick Tornado

On July 20, hot, humid and unstable air combined with a cold front to generate severe thunderstorms across southern portions of New Brunswick. The most intense event occurred in the Grand Lake area where a tornado touched down near Jemseg. Winds blew between 135 to 175 km/h. The tornado uprooted trees, broke phone lines and damaged buildings. At least three barns, sheds and a garage were destroyed in the Whites Cove area with barn debris scattered 350 m away.

6. New Brunswick Soaker

A slow-moving weather system with embedded thunderstorms yielded record rains in New Brunswick on July 26. Fredericton and nearby Gagetown got 120 mm of rain, but the heaviest deluge occurred at St. Stephen where 163 mm fell. For Fredericton there had never been a wetter day in July. The rain that fell on the 26th was 40 per cent more than normal for the whole month. Not only was it the wettest day, it was also the wettest July ever (228.2 mm) with records dating back to the 1870s. In St. Stephen, it rained every day between July 17 and July 26. In total, 271 mm of rain fell leaving businesses and residents with flooded basements.

7. August Soaker

Another slow-moving storm tracked over Atlantic Canada on August 10 bringing moderate to heavy rains and strong southerly winds to the region. The nastiest effects were felt along Newfoundland’s south coast. Marystown and other communities along the Burin Peninsula received in excess of 60 mm of rain resulting in damage to both municipal and provincial roads and culverts. Personal losses included flooded basements and washed-out driveways.

8. Blustery Labour Day Weekend

An intense weather system that developed off the east coast of the United States in late August tracked across Nova Scotia dumping in excess of 50 mm of rain in western sections of the province. Moving eastward, the system’s high moisture content combined with its slow-moving track to bring the heaviest rainfalls over southern and eastern Newfoundland. Gander received 125 mm – more rain than it got during Hurricane Igor – leaving the Trans-Canada Highway between Gander and Gambo impassable.

9. Badger Loses Power in Storm

A powerful winter storm hit western and central Newfoundland on November 21, with winds of 140 km/h and heavy snow triggering power outages throughout the region. At Badger, about 25 utility poles were pulled down by the powerful winds causing the town to lose power and cutting off the water supply. Officials declared a state of emergency that lasted for three days. In the meantime, the Canadian Red Cross brought in water for residents.

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Quebec - Regional Highlights

  1. Montréal’s Storm of the Century
  2. January Deep Freeze and Power Surge
  3. High Winds Postpone Rescue Efforts
  4. Snow on First Day of Spring
  5. Early Season Heat Wave
  6. Quebec’s First Tornado and Last Snowfall
  7. Stormy Weather
  8. Storm with Everything
  9. Flooding Rainfalls
  10. First snows are heavy
  11. Witches of November

1. Montréal’s Storm of the Century

Montréal received nearly 250 cm of snow during winter 2012-13, which is about 20 per cent more than normal. The snowy year got off to a huge start on December 27, 2012 when a record 45.6 cm of snow fell on the city – the snowiest day every at Trudeau International Airport. Quite possibly over 50 cm fell in one day in the city’s south shore suburbs. While the clean-up took close to six days, city crews and residents mobilized a miraculous next-day effort that cleared everything but towering snowbanks. The entire snow removal process cost $25 million or 20 per cent of the city’s annual snow budget.

2. January Deep Freeze and Power Surge

A deep lasting chill settled in over much of Quebec on January 20, with temperatures dipping as low as -40°C. The lowest wind chills were -51 at Lac-Saint-Jean/Normandin and Lac Wageguma and -49 at Matagami. Power consumption hit a historic peak during the deep freeze, with Hydro-Québec asking the public to conserve energy and doing its own part by shutting off the lights powering its iconic Q logo at its headquarters in Montréal. The frigid spell led to countless school closures, bursting water pipes and the opening of extra bunks at homeless shelters. The intensely deep cold spell was deemed rare occurring only once in 35 years.

3.High Winds Postpone Rescue Efforts

At the end of January, high winds close to 100 km/h blacked out 100,000 electricity customers, blew vehicles over on Highway 40 and closed the highway between Joliette and Mascouche. They also postponed rescue efforts at the L'Épiphanie quarry where two missing truck drivers were buried during a series of landslides on January 29.

4. Snow on First Day of Spring

During the week of March 19-23, a snowstorm dumped 20 to 35 cm over southern Quebec. Following the late winter blast, strong northwesterly winds over open water generated snow squalls that left more than 50 cm of “sea-snow” over parts of the north shore of the Gaspé Peninsula.

5. Early Season Heat Wave

At the end of April and in early May, temperatures over the southern third of Quebec were exceptionally warm, peaking at 29.8°C on May 6 at La Tuque – some 10 to 15 degrees warmer than normal. The early onset of warmth rapidly accelerated the snowmelt in regions further north. The heat also hastened field drying, enabling farmers to begin seeding earlier than usual and raising the forest fire threat.

6. Quebec’s First Tornado and Last Snowfall

A line of severe thunderstorms swept through southwestern Quebec on June 1, bringing heavy rains and triggering floods south of Lac-Kénogami and near La Baie. The rain also washed out portions of a key highway connecting the province's Charlevoix and Saguenay regions. High winds also hit with gusts near 100 km/h causing power outages and the season’s first tornado (EF-0) landing at Saint-Hugues in the Montérégie region, where it ripped off garage doors and tore away pieces of roof tops. Just days prior to the storm, a stationary low over New England had dropped anywhere from 60 to 150 mm of rain across the Eastern Townships, the Beauce, Québec City and Chaudière-Appalaches. Water levels rose rapidly, causing local flooding and landslides that led to the evacuation of residents and campers, and the closure of several roads. Shockingly, one station in the Beauce reported 19 cm of snow, which – according to one expert – is the greatest amount of late snowfall over southern Quebec, since 1967.

7. Stormy Weather

On July 11, a passing cold front produced heavy thunderstorms that deposited 50 mm of torrential rain over a two-hour period in the Laurentians and Eastern Townships. The storms also produced hail and damaging wind gusts that hurt crops in the Laurentians and around the Drummondville area. Experts also confirmed an EF-0 tornado at Saint-Marc-des-Carrières between Trois-Rivières and Québec City.

8. Storm with Everything

On August 13, severe thunderstorms flash-flooded several streets and basements in Laval, Montréal and St-Jérôme, prompting the closing of several roads and highways. Around 10:30 p.m., a weak tornado hit an auto dealership in Sherbrooke infliciting roof damage and breaking several windows. The weather system also brought significant rains to central and eastern Quebec, including 87 mm of rain between Sept-Îles and Mingan.

9. Flooding Rainfalls

On September 11, a warm, moist air mass with embedded thunderstorms brought heavy rains to Suroît, the southern Eastern Townships and the Beauce. Saint-Anicet and Lacolle received the most rain with 80 mm in less than five hours causing widespread basement flooding. Powerful winds also hit, uprooting several trees, and hailstones up to 3 cm in diameter pounded crops and property in Saint-Anicet and Hemmingford. Humidex values in the air mass reached 42 – incredibly high for so late in the year.

10. First snows are heavy

An intense low-pressure system that stalled over the Labrador Sea produced high winds over the Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean area, the northern Laurentians and eastern Quebec with peak gusts reaching above 90 km/h in some places. Snow squalls also hit dumping heavy first-of-the-season snowfalls between November 23 and 25 of between 17 and 36 cm that reduced visibility to zero at times in the northern Matapédia Valley, inland areas of Rimouski, northern Gaspésie Park and Blanc-Sablon.

11. Witches of November

Powerful southwesterly winds wreaked havoc across southern Ontario and Quebec’s St. Lawrence Valley on the first days of November knocking down trees and downing power lines. Fierce wind gusts attained speeds of 100 km/h in Montréal, 109 km/h at Saint-Hubert and over 110 km/h at Cap-Chat. Nearly 350,000 customers were left without power at times, including tens of thousands in Montréal and Laval, and in the Lanaudière and Outaouais regions. Just north of Montréal, winds littered a shopping centre with crushed scaffolding and severed a gas line. Several regions also received up to 60 mm of rain.

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Ontario - Regional Highlights

  1. Spectacular January Thaw
  2. Highway Chaos
  3. Another January Thaw
  4. April Cruel
  5. Coming of Spring
  6. James Bay Flooding
  7. A Tornado Swarm
  8. Torrential May Rains
  9. Windsor’s Wettest Month on Record
  10. A Soaker in the North
  11. Four Tornado Days
  12. Sault Soaker in September
  13. Soggy September Weekend
  14. Record Wet Fall
  15. Swarm of Waterspouts over Lakes Ontario and Erie
  16. First-ever Snow-nado?
  17. Classic Lake-effect Snowstorms

1. Spectacular January Thaw

Unseasonably mild air pushed up into southern Ontario before travelling eastward across Quebec and Atlantic Canada. Daytime highs soared into the double digits in many locales including 14.6°C in Toronto on January 12, which was five degrees above the previous record set in 1995. Unfortunately, between 20 and 50 mm of spring-like rains accompanied the unseasonable warmth. Roofing and general contracting companies were flooded with emergency calls after frequent freeze-thaw cycling led to serious roof leaks. The rush of water also overwhelmed drainage systems and flooded basements and back yards. Under the spell of spring fever, many took the opportunity to wash their cars, play sports in shorts, barbecue or take down Christmas lights.

2. Highway Chaos

On January 25, a snow squall over Lake Ontario pushed onshore in the Oshawa-to-Brighton area. The ensuing near-zero visibility was a contributing factor in a 70-vehicle collision that occurred on Highway 401 resulting in five injuries. Cars were left sideways and upside down, closing all west- and east-bound lanes.

3.Another January Thaw

A second wave of thawing with double-digit temperatures returned to southern Ontario at the end of January. Temperatures more typical of late April and May hit Windsor (14.5°C), Sarnia (12.4°C) and five other sites. Heavy rains, record mild temperatures and speedy snowmelt raised water levels on the Thames River in London causing flooding in low-lying areas and in basements. In Ottawa, a record high of 11.6°C was warm enough to shut down the Rideau Canal Skateway two days before the opening of Winterlude.

4. April Cruel

Three weeks into spring a final wintery blast of weather tracked across Ontario, bringing a tricky mix of ice pellets, snow and freezing rain carried along by strong winds. Power outages occurred when downed tree limbs fell on ice-encased power lines. Across Ontario, 115,000 customers were without power with some remaining shut down for three days. Slick roads led to several crashes and shut schools.

5. Coming of Spring

Spring weather arrived in southern Ontario on April 18 but it featured some summer meanness. A line of strong thunderstorms featuring straight-line winds and a tornado inflicted property damage on parts of south-central Ontario. An EF-1 tornado, Canada’s first of 2013, with winds between 135 to 175 km/h ripped through Dufferin County about 6 km northwest of Shelburne, knocking down hydro wires, ripping at a barn roof and bringing down trees.

6. James Bay Flooding

A spring ritual on the shores of James Bay occurred on May 2 when flooding and backed-up sewers threatened the northern Ontario First Nations communities of Attawapiskat and Kashechewan. Sewage and water flooded forty homes and buildings. In the end, eight communities in Ontario’s far north came under states of emergency warnings, including Moosonee, mostly due to rising waters.

7. A Tornado Swarm

On May 21, two thunderstorm clusters raced across southern Ontario bringing frequent lightning, hail, heavy downpours, strong and gusty winds, and three tornadoes – one south of Midland, another near Barrie, and a third near Glenarm in Kawartha Lakes. The Glenarm tornado was the most powerful; an EF-2 with peak winds between 180 and 200 km/h. In addition to the tornadoes, straight-line winds caused significant damage southwest of Fenelon Falls. Twisting winds were strong enough to debark trees and toss roofs into the air.

8. Torrential May Rains

A round of thunderstorms brought excess rains to Toronto and parts of southern Ontario on May 29. Port Stanley and Toronto East York reported the most rainfall, with 89.0 mm and 70.2 mm respectively. In Toronto, the rains were enough to flood the Don Valley Parkway, which became completely impassable during the morning rush hour with sections in both directions either under water or coated in mud and debris. Flood waters rose as high as vehicle doors in some spots and also inundated GO Transit tracks.

9. Windsor’s Wettest Month on Record

July was the wettest month in history in Windsor – 262.2 mm – some three times the monthly normal of 82 mm. The previous all-time record was 244 mm set in 1969. It even beat the wettest month ever – September 1981 with 246.1 mm. It rained hard and often during the month with 21 wet days, which was also a record. The frequent deluges caused headaches for local farmers. As one grower said: “I just can’t get on the field because the machinery doesn’t float.”

10. A Soaker in the North

A slow-moving low-pressure system gave parts of northern and central Ontario significant amounts of rain over the weekend of July 26 to 28. Thunderstorm rains totalled 92 mm in Nagagami, 64 mm in Armstrong, and 62 mm in Sault Ste. Marie, Geraldton and Kapuskasing. With cooler air, conditions were favourable for the development of waterspouts. At least 12 funnel clouds and seven waterspouts were spotted over the Great Lakes and Lake Nipissing.

11. Four Tornado Days

A line of severe thunderstorms developed late on August 7 from Arthur to Orillia to north of Minden. The thunderstorms produced four weak tornadoes. The strongest twister, an EF-1, took out a swath of trees northwest of Haliburton.

12. Sault Soaker in September

Severe thunderstorms with up to 100-mm downpours and thousands of intense lightning strobes occurred on September 9 from Manitoulin Island to Sault Ste. Marie. Flooding waters, washouts and mudslides closed sections of highways and city streets. Excessive rains led to evacuations, flooded basements and washed away culverts, opening up sinkholes and blowing off manhole covers. On a sad note, a motorcyclist drowned in a washout. In Sault Ste. Marie’s north end, flash flooding contributed to the collapse of a railway trestle.

13. Soggy September Weekend

A slow-moving cold front combined with moisture from the Gulf of Mexico produced heavy bands of rain and scattered thunderstorms across much of southern Ontario on September 20 and 21. Total rainfall exceeded 100 mm in London (Dorchester), Wellesley, New Hamburg and Waterloo, while areas from southern Georgian Bay to Bancroft received nearly 50 mm of rain. The September soaker washed out several activities planned for the International Plowing Match near Mitchell and Stratford.

14. Record Wet Fall

The exceptionally wet fall had to be a huge disappointment to residents and tourists wanting to view the fall colours in all their splendour. Locations like Owen Sound experienced their wettest October on record with over 200 mm of rain or just over twice the normal rainfall. Between October 15 and November 2, every day in Owen Sound was wet. Indeed, the entire year broke wet weather records. By December 4, yearly precipitation in the city totalled 1294 mm beating the previous wettest year record set in 2011.

15. Swarm of Waterspouts over Lakes Ontario and Erie

On October 20, a spectacular number of waterspouts were sighted over the Great Lakes – 67 in total, with 54 and 13 over Lakes Ontario and Erie respectively. Many spouts lasted up to 15 minutes. It was a Great Lakes record (more than double the previous number). According to Wade Szilagyi, Environment Canada’s authority on waterspouts, it was also a world record for a single-day total.

16. First-ever Snow-nado?

On November 23, a very rare late season tornado touched down north of Prescott when a sharp cold front tracked through Eastern Ontario. The EF-1 tornado featured winds around 150 km/h, which was strong enough to damage a farm silo and inflict other minor property damage. It was one of the latest tornadoes ever reported in Canada and occurred in a “blizzard” of snow and hail with freezing temperatures. Environment Canada’s Dave Sills, a Canadian expert on tornadoes, said it might be Canada’s first recorded “snow-nado”. [Note: Environment Canada confirmed 22 tornadoes in Ontario this year, which is almost twice the seasonal average of 12. Most, however, were weak and short-lived.]

17. Classic Lake-effect Snowstorms

Cold arctic air plunged across southern Ontario on November 23 and 24, turning on the lake-effect snow engine to the lee of the warm waters of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. The weather station in London received 32 cm of snow, but areas farther west close to St. Thomas were hit by steady streamers that dumped as much as 70 cm. Police across the region responded to dozens of crashes on area streets and highways. To the north, near Barrie, a blast of heavy snowfall triggered a series of collisions involving up to 40 vehicles on Highway 400 in dangerous whiteout conditions that sent vehicles slamming into each other, careening into ditches and crashing into guard rails. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured.

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Prairie Provinces - Regional Highlights

  1. Powerful Prairie Blizzard
  2. Three-province Storm
  3. St. Patrick’s Day Storm
  4. May Day Storm
  5. A Tsunami of Ice
  6. Two May Storms
  7. Snowy November in Alberta

1. Powerful Prairie Blizzard

Icy roads, blowing snow and piling snow drifts prompted rural school cancellations and flight delays across Manitoba and Saskatchewan as a nasty blizzard swept across the south on January 11. In Manitoba, ditches along Winnipeg’s Perimeter Highway were littered with cars while Manitoba Hydro dealt with a rash of power outages. Winnipegers woke up to 10 to 15 cm of fresh snow and -25 wind chills in wind gusts of 70 km/h.

2. Three-province Storm

March began with lion-like weather roaring across the southern Prairies. A furious storm shut down many highways due to drifting snow, limited visibility and icy roads. In Calgary, winds peaked close to 100 km/h and the storm dumped 27 cm of snow before barrelling into Saskatchewan. Conditions there led to the closure of the Trans-Canada Highway in the central and southern parts of the province. The storm then moved into Manitoba, where in excess of 20 cm of snow blocked roads and forced the closing of several schools. In the western Red River Valley at Miami MB, 56 cm of snow fell in 24 hours between March 4 and 5. Drifts in town were piled up to second-storey bedroom windows.

3. St. Patrick’s Day Storm

A strong low-pressure system spread snow and blowing snow into the southern reaches of Saskatchewan and Manitoba on the afternoon of March 17. Coronach, Saskatchewan  got 32 cm of snow. Behind the storm, very cold arctic air plunged temperatures to -28°C. Winnipeg got a 1-2 punch of heavy snow followed by -30 wind chills. The wicked weather prompted the closure of roads, schools and cemeteries.

4. May Day Storm

May Day has historically been celebrated to mark the end of the harsh winter. Tell that to residents in the western and Interlake regions of Manitoba who were hit with a winter storm on May 1 that forced them to retrieve their snow shovels or stay at home because of treacherous road conditions. The community of Plumas, 200 km northwest of Winnipeg, got the biggest dump with up to 45 cm of snow.

5. A Tsunami of Ice

Several homes and cottages on Dauphin Lake were heavily damaged by fast-moving ice, which was pushed onshore by strong, gusty winds striking at 90 km/h in the second week of May. The ice tipped over some dwellings, while others had rooms full of ice that entered through doors and windows. Crushing ice also brought down several utility poles.

6. Two May Storms

A slow-moving, energetic low-pressure system over northeastern South Dakota brought significant rains to parts of southern Manitoba during the Victoria Day long weekend. The greatest three-day accumulations occurred south of the Trans-Canada Highway, including: Deerwood 97 mm, Morden 89 mm, Sprague 73 mm, Letellier 71 mm, Killarney 69 mm, Carman 68 mm and Altona 67 mm. The heavy rains caused extensive overland flooding on farmland, significantly delaying field work and seeding.

7. Snowy November in Alberta

A winter storm at the beginning of November set the scene for a snowy month across southern and central Alberta. On November 2, much of the province from Edmonton southward was blanketed by snow after an intense low-pressure system moved in from the Pacific Coast. Central Alberta was hit the hardest, with some places reporting 20 to 30 cm. On November 4, when the storm hit Saskatchewan, a combination of warm roads, rain, freezing rain, wet snow and the pressure from vehicles polished roads to an icy finish. Two weeks later another system dumped around 20 cm of snow on Edmonton and environs, and over 25 cm in Drayton Valley and Ponoka. In Red Deer, snow-clogged streets forced officials to cancel the Santa Claus Parade. More snow later in the month brought the city’s total to 62.5 cm – a new record for November with observations spanning over 75 years.

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British Columbia - Regional Highlights

  1. Foggy Spell
  2. Sunshine Missing
  3. Avalanche Weather
  4. Spring Flooding Threat
  5. Wettest September on Record
  6. Yukon Cold Makes B.C. White Gold

1. Foggy Spell

An upper ridge of warm air over the British Columbia coast trapped cool moist air at the surface creating a spell of foggy, misty weather between January 7 and 22. There were 18 fog days in January totalling 153 hours with visibilities below 10 km. A string of seven consecutive days with fog occurred between January 18 and 24.

2. Sunshine Missing

The winter months of December 2012 and January and February 2013 were not only unusually dreary in Victoria, they combined to produce the least-sunny trio of winter months on record. December had 32.3 hours of sun, January 56.7 hours and February 53.6 hours for a total of only 142.6 hours of bright winter sunshine – well below the seasonal average of 216 hours.

3. Avalanche Weather

Around the first day of spring under sunny skies, the Canadian Avalanche Centre raised the avalanche danger risk from moderate to considerable in the Rockies because warmer temperatures had weakened snow crust, resulting in easy-to-trigger slides. A month earlier, the avalanche risk in the Revelstoke area was said to be the worst in 20 years owing to frequent 2 cm/hr snowfalls.

4. Spring Flooding Threat

Lower Mainland residents were warned to be careful around the Fraser River, as waters rose rapidly from late snowmelt and heavy spring rains. British Columbia’s  Forecast Centre issued a high streamflow advisory for the Fraser River, including Quesnel, Fraser Canyon, Hope and the Lower Mainland. Watches and advisories were also sent out for the Birkenhead River near Pemberton and for the Squamish and Lillooet rivers and tributary creeks. By May 13, the flood threat had grown all along the Fraser River. Recent heat and rain combined to cause a rapid snowmelt that swelled the river. Two waterfront parks in Prince George were closed because of high water levels.

5. Wettest September on Record

British Columbia’s wet season arrived early in 2013 with the province’s south coast experiencing heavy rain and winds on September 28 and 29. Persistent storms packed strong winds over 100 km/h, leaving 8,000 customers without power after falling trees downed power lines and cut services. BC Ferries cancelled several sailings in and out of Vancouver. Peak wind gusts at Estevan Point reached 122 km/h. Owing to the nasty end-of-the-month soakers, Metro Vancouver received near record amounts of rainfall. In total, Vancouver Airport got 144 mm, making it the third wettest in 77 years. In Victoria, a new September rainfall record of 119 mm was set. More than half that total − about 70 mm and four times the city’s average of 30 mm – fell in the last four days of the month. The Okanagan was also wet in September measuring in at the third wettest on record. Kelowna got 71 mm of rain when it usually only gets 33 mm and in the Kootenay region Castlegar recorded 91.4 mm, which is more than double its 43-mm average. Following the third-wettest September since 1936, the Lower Mainland recorded its sunniest October since 1991. Only 25.4 mm of rain fell in October (average is 113 mm).

6. Yukon Cold Makes B.C. White Gold

Arctic air from the Yukon in the -40°Cs pushed southwards into British Columbia between November 30 and early December leading to significant snowfalls over high mountain passes and valley locations. Snowfall totals included 61 cm at Kootenay Pass and 32 cm at the Coquihalla Summit, and around 20 cm at lower elevations in Cranbrook, Sparwood and Fort St. John. The frigid air helped ski resorts make snow or keep up natural snow on their slopes for an early December opening.

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The North - Regional Highlights

  1. Fracturing Ice
  2. Orcas trapped with nowhere to go
  3. Good Ice Road Year
  4. Record Spring Snowfall
  5. Northern Heat Wave

1. Fracturing Ice

This past spring, the ice in Canada’s western Arctic ripped open in a massive “fracturing event” that then spread like a wave across 1,000 km of the Beaufort Sea. Huge leads of water – some more than 500 km long and as much as 70 km across – opened up from Alaska to Canada’s Arctic islands as the massive ice sheet cracked. Pushed around by strong winds and currents, the majority of the ice was thinner and weaker, responding more readily to atmospheric-ocean forces.

2. Orcas trapped with nowhere to go

On January 8, shifting ice near Inukjuak on Hudson Bay trapped a dozen killer whales. The panicked and stressed whales attempted to come up to the surface all at once, gasping for air, but the breathing hole was too small for the number of whales. A cold snap two days before froze the bay, which was much later than normal.  Most of the whales escaped within two days, much to the delight of residents and countless others from around the globe who had been following the saga through news reports and social media.

3. Good Ice Road Year

Colder-than-normal weather early in the winter meant more favourable ice conditions for constructing and maintaining winter ice roads. The ice was nearly 1 metre thick, much thicker than in most years at the roads’ openings. January was the coldest in Yellowknife since 2004 with extreme lows dipping below –40°C on three days, including -42°C on January 31. Ice road users were able to carry heavier and fuller loads as a result. During the 2013 season, 230,000 tonnes of goods and equipment were driven along the Tibbitt-to-Contwoyto winter road to the Ekati diamond mines – 10 per cent more than 2012.

4. Record Spring Snowfall

A persistent and extremely slow-moving low-pressure system over Hudson Bay brought streams of precipitation to parts of the Hudson Bay coast beginning in mid-May. A massive three-day snowfall dumped an incredible 92 cm of snow at Rankin Inlet – about 75 per cent of the hamlet’s average annual snowfall. Equally important was that the snow was heavy and wet. Veteran Environment Canada meteorologist Yvonne Bilan-Wallace couldn’t recall such a dump of snow in the Arctic in her 33-year career as an Arctic meteorologist. Because of the snow, a radio station in Rankin was unreachable and a fishing derby was postponed.

5. Northern Heat Wave

Canada’s North experienced record heat during the first half of August. Temperatures in Nunavut were particularly warm with Kugluktuk reaching 29.3°C on August 12 and 13, setting records for six consecutive days. Normal daily highs in the hamlet are about 13°C. Baker Lake also set a new record on August 12 with temperatures climbing to 26.7°C, only to exceed that with another record on August 15 at 29.2°C. Coral Harbour also beat its record high set in 1966 by about two degrees, averaging 22°C. In the Northwest Territories, the town of Inuvik exceeded 30°C on August 8, eclipsing the daily record by more than two degrees.

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