* Rogers Pass Avalanche - March 5, 1910. Sixty-two train men and labourers perished 2 km west of Rogers Pass, BC, when their engine was hit by an avalanche and hurtled 500 metres into Bear Creek. Over 600 volunteers used pick axes and shovels to dig through 10 m of snow in the search for survivors. * World's Worst Iceberg Accident - April 15, 1912. The unsinkable Titanic collided with an iceberg 700 km southeast of Newfoundland, causing the death of 1,500 people and making headlines around the world. * Deadliest Canadian Tornado - June 30, 1912. A late afternoon tornado slashed through six city blocks in Regina, killing up to 40 people, injuring 300 others, destroying 500 buildings and leaving a quarter of the population homeless. Better known as the "Regina Cyclone", the tornado lasted three minutes but it took 46 years to pay for the damages. * Black Sunday Storm - November 7-13, 1913. One of the most severe Great Lakes storms on record swept winds of 140 km/h over lakes Erie and Ontario, taking down 34 ships and 270 sailors. Days later, the crew of one ship was found lashed to the mast, frozen to death -- only the ship survived. * Storm Claims Sealers - April 1, 1914. Seventy-seven sealers froze to death during a violent storm on the ice off the southeast coast of Labrador. At the height of the storm, from March 31 to April 2, the temperature was -23�C with winds from the northwest at 64 km/h. * Fog Causes Ship Collision - May 29, 1914. Shallow river fog contributed to the collision of two ships -- the CP Liner Empress of Ireland and a Norwegian coal ship, The Storstad -- in the St. Lawrence River, 300 km seaward from Quebec City. The liner sank in 25 minutes, and 1,024 passengers lost their lives. * Victoria's Snowstorms of the Century - February 2, 1916 and December 28-29, 1996. Huge snowstorms, 80 years apart, clobbered Canada's "snow-free" city with more than 55 cm of snow. The December storm dropped 80 cm of snow in 24 hours, 125 cm in five days with cleanup costs exceeding $200 million (including a record insurance payout for BC of $80 million). * Killer Lightning - July 29, 1916. Lightning ignited a forest fire which burned down the towns of Cochrane and Matheson, Ontario, killing 233 people. * Princess Sophia Sinks off BC - October 23, 1918. A Canadian steamship carrying miners from Yukon and Alaska became stranded on Vanderbilt Reef. Rescuers were unable to remove the 268 passengers and 75 crewmen due to a strong northerly gale. The next day, weather conditions worsened and the ship sank killing all on board.
1921-1940
* August Gale Kills 56 in Newfoundland - August 24-25, 1927. A hurricane swept through Atlantic Canada washing out roads, filling basements, and swamping boats. In Newfoundland, 56 people died at sea. * Multiple Tornadoes hit Southern Manitoba - June 22, 1922. Hot and humid air led to the development of several tornadoes in the area. Five deaths and hundreds of injuries were attributed to the event which caused $2 million in 1922 dollars. * Dustbowl Era - 1930s. Between 1933 and 1937, the Prairies experienced only 60% of its normal rainfall. Thousands of livestock were lost to starvation and suffocation, crops withered and 250,000 people across the region abandoned their land to seek better lives elsewhere. * Great Lakes Freighter Hit by Lightning - June 26, 1930. Lightning struck the bow of the John B. King drillship in the St. Lawrence River, igniting a store of dynamite onboard. The explosion killed 30 people and injured 11 others. * Ontario's Coldest Day on Record - December 29, 1933. Fourteen sites recorded their coldest-ever temperature, including Ottawa at -38.9�C and Algonquin Park at -45.0�C. Outside Ontario, record cold temperatures were also set in Manitoba, Quebec and Nova Scotia. * Cold Wave Grips Eastern North America - February 1934. A cold wave engulfed the continent from Manitoba to the Atlantic seaboard and down the east coast to Palm Beach, Florida. Ice trapped fishing vessels off Nova Scotia, hospitals were jammed with frostbite victims and, for only the second time in recorded history, Lake Ontario froze completely over. * Cold Wave Freezes Victoria and BC's Lower Mainland - January 19-29, 1935. Winter weather gripped Vancouver, with temperatures dipping to -16� and snowfall greater than 40 cm. While the extreme cold caused fuel shortages and frozen water supplies, a quick thaw followed by 267 mm of rain over the next four days added extensive roof damage across the city, including the collapse of the Forum -- the city's main hockey and curling rink. * The Deadliest Heat Wave in History - July 5-17, 1936. Temperatures exceeding 44�C in Manitoba and Ontario claimed 1,180 Canadians (mostly the elderly and infants) during the longest, deadliest heat wave on record. Four hundred of these deaths were caused by people who drowned seeking refuge from the heat. In fact, the heat was so intense that steel rail lines and bridge girders twisted, sidewalks buckled, crops wilted and fruit baked on trees. * Hottest Day on Record - July 5, 1937. The highest temperature ever recorded in Canada was reached at Midale and Yellowgrass, Saskatchewan when the mercury soared to 45�C.
1941-1960
* Eastern Ontario's Freezing Rain Storm - December 28-30, 1942. Ice "as thick as a person's wrist" covered telephone wires, trees and railway tracks. In Ottawa, 50,000 workers walked to work for five days. Because of the war, there were few men available to clear the streets and repair lines. * Toronto's Worst Single-Day Snowfall - December 11, 1944. A severe winter storm dumped 48 cm of snow on Toronto's downtown, while gale-force winds piled the snow into huge drifts. A total of 57.2 cm fell over two days. In all, 21 people died -- 13 from overexertion. Funerals were postponed, expectant mothers walked to hospitals, and there were no home deliveries of milk, ice or fuel. Of major concern, factories producing war ammunitions had to close temporarily. * Windsor's Killer Tornado - June 17, 1946. The third worst killer tornado in Canadian history reared up across the Detroit River, killing 17 people and demolishing or damaging 400 homes in Windsor and the surrounding county. The tornado also took down 150 barns and farm buildings, and uprooted hundreds of orchard trees and full-grown woodlots. * Worst Blizzard in Canadian Railway History - January 30 to February 8, 1947. A ten-day blizzard buried towns and trains from Winnipeg to Calgary, causing some Saskatchewan roads and rail lines to remain plugged with snow until spring. Children stepped over power lines to get to school and built tunnels to get to the outhouse. A Moose Jaw farmer had to cut a hole in the roof of his barn to get in to feed his cows. * Coldest Temperature in North America - February 3, 1947. The temperature in Snag, Yukon dipped to -63�C, establishing Canada's reputation for extreme cold. * BC's Worst Flood of the Century - May-June 1948. BC's Fraser River overflowed, drowning 10, inundating 22,200 hectares, destroying 2,300 homes and forcing 16,000 to flee. Row boats were the only means of transportation in much of the Fraser Valley, and for three weeks Vancouver had no rail connection with the rest of Canada. * Red River Flood - Spring 1950. Described as the greatest flood disaster in Canadian history, the Red River crested at 9.2 m above normal near Winnipeg. While 100,000 people were evacuated from Southern Manitoba, miraculously only one drowning was reported. Losses included damage to 5,000 homes and buildings, totaling $550 M in property losses. The Manitoba government decided to construct the Winnipeg Floodway to forestall future flooding. * First Person on Canadian Television - A Weatherperson! - September 8, 1954. Canadian television made its debut on this day, and meteorologist Percy Saltzman was the first person to appear on screen. Saltzman continued to present television weather for 22 years. * Hurricane Hazel - October 15, 1954. Leaving a nightmare of destruction , Hazel dumped an estimated 300 million tonnes of rain on Toronto, causing lost streets, washed out bridges and untold personal tragedy. In all, 83 people died -- some bodies washing up on the shores of Lake Ontario in New York State days later. * Deadly Snowstorm in St. John's - February 16, 1959. A snowstorm with strong winds created 7-metre drifts, blocking main streets and causing six casualties. Another 70,000 Newfoundlanders were left without power, crippled telephone service, and blocked highways, streets and railways. Scores of motorists spent the night at homes along the highways after drifts buried their stalled cars. * Fishing Fleet Disaster off Esuminac, NB - June 20, 1959. More than 30 fishermen drowned in the worst storm disaster ever to hit the Gulf of St. Lawrence fishing fleet. Twenty-two salmon boats sank by a sudden, smashing north-easterly gale.