Environment Canada’s senior climatologist says, these days, there’s never a shortage of weather events to include in his annual Top Ten list.
Dave Phillips, who’s been compiling the list for 25 years, says last summer’s massive hailstorm in Calgary tops the list for 2020. The storm caused an estimated $1.3-billion in damage. Other events on the list include last January’s “snowmageddon” in St. John’s Newfoundland, the baking hot summer across much of Ontario and Quebec, and the haze created by forest fires over much of B-C. Included were some minor but unusual events as well, like the colder than average spring and warmer than average November.
Environment Canada recorded 77 tornadoes this year, with the strongest being the EF-3 Tornado that touched down near Scarth, Manitoba. That tornado reached speeds of 260 KM/h and resulted in the deaths of two teenagers who were killed when their car was lifted and thrown nearly a kilometre away. Environment Canada says that even hurricane season didn’t leave the country untouched. While not as impactful as others, Hurricane Teddy gave the Atlantic Provinces torrential downpours and high winds. Cape Breton Island took the worst of it, with the weather service saying that the island received 132 millimetres of rain and 145 Km/h winds. A nod was also given to Fort MacMurray, which only a few years after the deadly wildfires, experienced severe flooding in the city.
Environment Canada predicts that severe weather cost the Canadian economy $2.5 billion in 2020.
With Files from Norman Jack