feepa
12-28-2006, 05:18 PM
Canada's Top Ten Weather Stories For 2006
http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/media/top10/2006/index_e.html
Media Advisory
Some provinces and territories seem to get more than their fair share of extreme weather events over the course of a year. In the last few years, Alberta has had that honour with a surplus of tough weather that included excessive rains leading to record flooding. In 2003, it was Nova Scotia with hurricanes, weather bombs and spring flooding. This year, British Columbia leads the pack as the #1 target for Mother Nature's wrath starting with a record number of wet days in January and moving along to a November that had it all - rain, rain and more rain, along with strong winds, huge snowfalls and bitter cold. Eventually the parade of high intensity rainstorms last month led to extensive flooding and dozens of landslides, prompting officials to issue a boil-water advisory for millions of people in the Lower Mainland. December hasn't been any better, with a trio of mid-month storms that damaged dozens of homes, closed major highways, toppled thousands of trees including century old trees in Vancouver's Stanley Park and left a quarter of a million people without power. Sandwiched in between was a BC summer where it wasn't too much weather that created problems but too little weather. In August, record dryness in one of the wettest places in Canada created difficulties for residents and tourists. Wildfires numbered 50 per cent more than normal and consumed double the usual area.
On the whole, Canadians had plenty to "weather" in 2006. We endured flash floods, weather bombs, big snowfalls and black ice. Powerful thunderstorms in Ontario and Quebec killed at least four people and left hundreds of thousands of customers without power for days, often more than once. On the Prairies, a record number of hail storms cost millions in property and crop losses and - for the first time in six years - there was a death from a tornado in Canada. While southerners seemed pleased over a balmy, comfortable winter, the unusually mild conditions created economic hardships for those dependent on winter ice roads.
The news wasn't all bad though! This year we were spared devastating hurricanes, severe drought and plagues. There were no summer blackouts, and we experienced less weather-related personal injuries and fatalities. For the tenth year in a row, it was warm - the second warmest on record. The year featured a nation-wide January thaw, and a summer of mostly comfortable weather. It was so pleasantly warm from January to September that many Canadians felt either guilty or concerned that somehow they were soon going to pay for the abundance of delightful weather.
The following Top Canadian Weather Stories for 2006 are rated from one to ten based on factors that include the degree to which Canada and Canadians were impacted, the extent of the area affected, economic effects and longevity as a top news story:
Top Ten Weather Stories for 2006
http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/media/top10/2006/topten2006_e.html
B.C. Weather Woes Part I: So Much Rain, So Little Water
B.C. Weather Woes Part II: A December to Remember
Big Blows in Central Canada
Goldilocks of Summers
Prairie Hailers and a Deadly Twister
Nation-wide January Heat Wave
Active and Lengthy Wildfire Season
Surprise and Relief - A Quiet Hurricane Season
BC's Long Wet and Long Dry
Election Weather Confounds Pundits
Runner-Up Weather Stories
http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/media/top10/2006/runnerup2006_e.html
A Warming Canada
Spring Flooding on the Red and Red Deer Rivers
Freak Friday 13th Snowstorm
A Winter Storm with Everything
Glorious Fall: Damp, Dark and Depressing
Early Winter - Most in the West and Least in the East
West Nile Virus Flares Up
A Spring Full of Wheezing and Sneezing
For the Record
A selection of significant weather records set in Canada for 2006
November was the wettest month on record in Victoria. Vancouver experienced its wettest January and wettest November on record, with November tying for the wettest month
Winnipeg had its driest July and June-July on record
Edmonton recorded its highest temperature in 70 years
The Prairies witnessed a record number of hail events
Winnipeg registered its warmest January on record
Toronto had its "dullest" fall in 29 years
Fredericton experienced a record number of July thunderstorms
Montreal had its rainiest year on record
Toronto's Pearson Airport registered its warmest night ever
Yellowknife had its snowiest November ever
Southern Ontario and Southern Quebec had the wettest fall on record and possibly the wettest year ever
Significant Regional Weather Stories
http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/media/top10/2006/regional2006_e.html
Atlantic Canada
Storm-stayed in Labrador
Ice Jam Threatens World-Famous Wooden Bridge
Thin Ice Drowns Seal Pups
Nor'easter Goes Digging
Another Winter Blast on St. John's
Sheila Brush Storm Arrives On Time
Wet Easter Weekend
New Brunswick's Tornadoes and Near-tornadoes
Wet Summer Causes Problems on the Farm
Taste of Summer in November
Quebec
March of the Montreal Penguins
Spring Showers Bring May Flooding
Soggy May Delays Seeding
Smog Grounds Planes and Buses
Summer's Deadly Tempest
Record Rains in Montreal - Two Years Running
Ontario
Memories of the Infamous Ice Storm
Non-Stop Snow
Early Bout of Smog
Leaving Town - Again!
Wiarton Willie's Last Call
Deadly Lightning
Hot Summer Nights In The City
Unusual Great Lakes Water Levels
Snow Only for London
Prairie Provinces
Snowplow Drivers MIA
Early Alberta Heat Wave
June Flooding All Over Again
Rare Power Failure in Calgary
Raining Glass on Winnipeg
Manitoba Twister
Early Harvest and Surprisingly Good Yields
British Columbia
With Every Storm Comes Power Outages
BC Ferry Goes Under
Spring Flooding in the Kootenays
Smog in Beautiful British Columbia
Triple Hail Days
Torrential Rains Even For the Wet Coast
The North
Too Hot for Cold Testing
Rescuing the Mushers
February Thaw - Not Nice
Record Late Snow in the Yukon
Early Beginning to Winter
http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/media/top10/2006/index_e.html
Media Advisory
Some provinces and territories seem to get more than their fair share of extreme weather events over the course of a year. In the last few years, Alberta has had that honour with a surplus of tough weather that included excessive rains leading to record flooding. In 2003, it was Nova Scotia with hurricanes, weather bombs and spring flooding. This year, British Columbia leads the pack as the #1 target for Mother Nature's wrath starting with a record number of wet days in January and moving along to a November that had it all - rain, rain and more rain, along with strong winds, huge snowfalls and bitter cold. Eventually the parade of high intensity rainstorms last month led to extensive flooding and dozens of landslides, prompting officials to issue a boil-water advisory for millions of people in the Lower Mainland. December hasn't been any better, with a trio of mid-month storms that damaged dozens of homes, closed major highways, toppled thousands of trees including century old trees in Vancouver's Stanley Park and left a quarter of a million people without power. Sandwiched in between was a BC summer where it wasn't too much weather that created problems but too little weather. In August, record dryness in one of the wettest places in Canada created difficulties for residents and tourists. Wildfires numbered 50 per cent more than normal and consumed double the usual area.
On the whole, Canadians had plenty to "weather" in 2006. We endured flash floods, weather bombs, big snowfalls and black ice. Powerful thunderstorms in Ontario and Quebec killed at least four people and left hundreds of thousands of customers without power for days, often more than once. On the Prairies, a record number of hail storms cost millions in property and crop losses and - for the first time in six years - there was a death from a tornado in Canada. While southerners seemed pleased over a balmy, comfortable winter, the unusually mild conditions created economic hardships for those dependent on winter ice roads.
The news wasn't all bad though! This year we were spared devastating hurricanes, severe drought and plagues. There were no summer blackouts, and we experienced less weather-related personal injuries and fatalities. For the tenth year in a row, it was warm - the second warmest on record. The year featured a nation-wide January thaw, and a summer of mostly comfortable weather. It was so pleasantly warm from January to September that many Canadians felt either guilty or concerned that somehow they were soon going to pay for the abundance of delightful weather.
The following Top Canadian Weather Stories for 2006 are rated from one to ten based on factors that include the degree to which Canada and Canadians were impacted, the extent of the area affected, economic effects and longevity as a top news story:
Top Ten Weather Stories for 2006
http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/media/top10/2006/topten2006_e.html
B.C. Weather Woes Part I: So Much Rain, So Little Water
B.C. Weather Woes Part II: A December to Remember
Big Blows in Central Canada
Goldilocks of Summers
Prairie Hailers and a Deadly Twister
Nation-wide January Heat Wave
Active and Lengthy Wildfire Season
Surprise and Relief - A Quiet Hurricane Season
BC's Long Wet and Long Dry
Election Weather Confounds Pundits
Runner-Up Weather Stories
http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/media/top10/2006/runnerup2006_e.html
A Warming Canada
Spring Flooding on the Red and Red Deer Rivers
Freak Friday 13th Snowstorm
A Winter Storm with Everything
Glorious Fall: Damp, Dark and Depressing
Early Winter - Most in the West and Least in the East
West Nile Virus Flares Up
A Spring Full of Wheezing and Sneezing
For the Record
A selection of significant weather records set in Canada for 2006
November was the wettest month on record in Victoria. Vancouver experienced its wettest January and wettest November on record, with November tying for the wettest month
Winnipeg had its driest July and June-July on record
Edmonton recorded its highest temperature in 70 years
The Prairies witnessed a record number of hail events
Winnipeg registered its warmest January on record
Toronto had its "dullest" fall in 29 years
Fredericton experienced a record number of July thunderstorms
Montreal had its rainiest year on record
Toronto's Pearson Airport registered its warmest night ever
Yellowknife had its snowiest November ever
Southern Ontario and Southern Quebec had the wettest fall on record and possibly the wettest year ever
Significant Regional Weather Stories
http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/media/top10/2006/regional2006_e.html
Atlantic Canada
Storm-stayed in Labrador
Ice Jam Threatens World-Famous Wooden Bridge
Thin Ice Drowns Seal Pups
Nor'easter Goes Digging
Another Winter Blast on St. John's
Sheila Brush Storm Arrives On Time
Wet Easter Weekend
New Brunswick's Tornadoes and Near-tornadoes
Wet Summer Causes Problems on the Farm
Taste of Summer in November
Quebec
March of the Montreal Penguins
Spring Showers Bring May Flooding
Soggy May Delays Seeding
Smog Grounds Planes and Buses
Summer's Deadly Tempest
Record Rains in Montreal - Two Years Running
Ontario
Memories of the Infamous Ice Storm
Non-Stop Snow
Early Bout of Smog
Leaving Town - Again!
Wiarton Willie's Last Call
Deadly Lightning
Hot Summer Nights In The City
Unusual Great Lakes Water Levels
Snow Only for London
Prairie Provinces
Snowplow Drivers MIA
Early Alberta Heat Wave
June Flooding All Over Again
Rare Power Failure in Calgary
Raining Glass on Winnipeg
Manitoba Twister
Early Harvest and Surprisingly Good Yields
British Columbia
With Every Storm Comes Power Outages
BC Ferry Goes Under
Spring Flooding in the Kootenays
Smog in Beautiful British Columbia
Triple Hail Days
Torrential Rains Even For the Wet Coast
The North
Too Hot for Cold Testing
Rescuing the Mushers
February Thaw - Not Nice
Record Late Snow in the Yukon
Early Beginning to Winter
