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Top Weather Events of the 20th Century

1961-1980

* West Records Single Driest Year - 1961. Many areas in the drought-stricken Prairies received only 45% of normal precipitation. In Regina, every month but May was drier than normal, and for the 12-month crop year the precipitation total was the lowest ever. The duration, severity and size of the area effectively made this drought the worst on record. Losses in wheat production alone were $668 million, 30% more than in the previous worst year, 1936.
* Typhoon Freda Hits BC's Lower Mainland - October 12, 1962. Remnants of Typhoon Freda struck BC's Lower Mainland, causing 7 deaths and damages in excess of $10 million. Twenty percent of Stanley Park was flattened. In Victoria, winds reached sustained speeds of 90 km/h with gusts to 145 km/h.
* Violent Storm Strikes Maritimes - December 1-2, 1964. One of the most violent storms in years struck the Maritime provinces with gales reaching gust speeds of 160 km/h. Three fishing boats, including two large draggers, were lost in the storm accounting for the loss of 23 lives. Halifax and Charlottetown recorded their all-time lowest sea-level pressure ever.
* "Great Blizzard" Lashes Southern Prairies - December 15, 1964. Heavy snows, accompanied by 90 km/h winds and -34�C temperatures, paralyzed the southern Prairies. Three people froze to death and thousands of animals perished.
* Winnipeg's Snowstorm of the Century - March 4, 1966. This winter blizzard dropped 35 cm of snow with winds blowing at 120 km/h, paralyzing the city for two days. Winnipeg's mayor issued a warning for everyone to stay at home. The drifting snow blocked all highways in southern Manitoba and forced the cancellation of all air travel in and out of the Winnipeg airport.
* Blizzards in Southern Alberta - April 17-20 and 27-29, 1967. A series of intense winter storms dropped a record 175 cm of snow on southern Alberta. Thousands of cattle, unable to forage for food in the deep snow, perished on the open range. Army units were dispatched to assist in snow clearing, while food, fuel and feed were airlifted into the province. The good news? The Revenue Minister announced that the income tax deadline for residents of southern Alberta was extended two weeks to May 15.
* Greatest Rainfall in One Day - October 6, 1967. A one-day rainfall of 489.2 mm occurred at Ucluelet Brynnor Mines, BC - a Canadian weather record that still stands.
* Montreal's Snowstorm of the Century - March 4, 1971. Montreal's worst snowstorm killed 17 people and dumped 47 cm of snow on the city with winds of 110 km/h producing second-storey drifts. Winds snapped power poles and felled cables, cutting electricity for up to ten days in some areas. In total, the city hauled away 500,000 truckloads of snow.
* Crater in Quebec Opens During Rainstorm - May 4, 1971. Tragedy struck the village of St-Jean-Vianney, Quebec when heavy rains caused a sinkhole 600 m wide and 30 m deep to appear in a residential area. The crater/mudslide killed 31 people and swallowed up 35 homes, a bus and several cars.
* Hurricane Beth Soaks Nova Scotia - August 15, 1971. Hurricane Beth brought punishing winds and up to 300 mm of rain, causing considerable crop damage and swamping highways and bridges, temporarily isolating communities on the eastern mainland of Nova Scotia. More rain fell during Beth than during Hazel in 1954.
* One Cold Year -1972. The only year on record when all weather-reporting stations in Canada reported temperatures below normal on an annual basis.
* Another Killer Tornado in Windsor - April 3, 1974. Three hundred and twenty three people died when a series of tornadoes struck 11 states in the U.S. and Ontario within an eight-hour period. The tornadoes caused more than $1 billion dollars in damage. In Windsor, one funnel cloud touched down at several locations taking eight lives at the Windsor Curling Club.
* Edmund Fitzgerald Sinks in Great Lakes Storm - November 10, 1975. A severe storm causes the largest Great Lakes bulk ore carrier ever to break up and sink in 20 m-high waves, killing the entire 29-man crew. Canadian musician Gordon Lightfoot later immortalized the ship in a folk song.
* Groundhog Day Storm Batters Bay of Fundy - February 2, 1976. One of the fiercest storms ever in the Maritimes slammed into Saint John, NB. Winds were clocked at 188 km/h, generating 12-m waves and swells as high as 10 m. Everything coated with salt spray for miles inland and huge chunks of coastline eroded.
* Blizzard Isolates Iqaluit - February 8, 1979. Weather with -40�C temperatures, 100 km/h winds and zero visibility in snow kept residents of Iqaluit indoors for 10 days.

1981-1999

* Blizzard Maroons PEI - February 22-26, 1982. A huge snowstorm with up to 60 cm of snow, 100 km/h winds, zero visibility and wind chills of -35�C paralyzed the Island for a week. The storm buried vehicles, snowplows and trains in 5- to 7-metre drifts and cut off all ties with the mainland.
* Ocean Ranger Disaster - February 15, 1982. Bad weather caused the sinking of the largest semi-submersible drilling rig in the world, 300 km east of Newfoundland. In total, 84 people died in the world's second worst disaster involving an offshore drill ship. Winds of 145 km/h, waves of 21 metres and high seas hampered rescue efforts.
* Newfoundland Glaze Storm Cuts Power to 200,000 - April 13, 1984. Residents of the Avalon Peninsula were without electricity for days when cylinders of ice as large as 15 cm in diameter formed on overhead wires. The severe, two-day ice storm covered all of southeastern Newfoundland with 25 mm of glaze.
* Tornadoes in Barrie and Central Ontario - May 31, 1985. Three confirmed tornadoes struck the Ontario communities of Barrie, Grand Valley, Orangeville and Tottenham. The Barrie tornado was the fourth most damaging and had the longest track (200 km) in Canadian history. In all, the family of tornadoes killed 11 people, injured hundreds of others, and destroyed or damaged 1,000 buildings.
* Worst Air Crash in Canada - December 12, 1985. An Arrow Airlines DC-8, after refueling in Gander en route to Kentucky, crashed seconds after take-off, killing 248 members of the US 101st Airborne Division and 8 crew. Just before the crash, freezing drizzle and snow grains were reported. The temperature was -4.2�C and winds were light from the west.
* Black Friday Tornado - July 31, 1987. One of Canada's most intense tornadoes ever struck Edmonton and killed 27 people -- the second worst killer tornado in Canada. Winds reached 400 km/h, cutting a swath of death and destruction 40 km long and as much as 1 km wide. In addition, hail as large as softballs and 40 to 50 mm of flooding rain fell on the city.
* $4 Billion Drought - September 1987-August 1988. Across the southern Prairies, the hottest summer on record, combined with half the normal growing season rainfall and a virtually snow-free previous winter, produced a drought that rivaled the 1930s in terms of intensity and duration of the dry spell. About 10% of farmers and farm workers left agriculture in 1988. Effects of the drought were felt across the country as lower agricultural yields led to higher food and beverage prices for consumers.
* Warmest Winter Olympics - February 1988. The Winter Olympics in Calgary experienced some of the warmest temperatures ever for late February. On February 26, Miami's high temperature of 19.4�C was only a shade warmer than Calgary's maximum of 18.1�C.
* Record Wind Chill - January 28, 1989. It was bad enough when the temperature dropped to -51�C in Pelly Bay, NWT but the wind made the air feel even colder when the wind chill equivalent reached -91�C.
* Hailstorm Strikes Calgary - September 7, 1991. A supper-hour storm lasting 30 minutes dropped 10-cm diameter hail in Calgary subdivisions, splitting trees, breaking windows and siding, and crushing birds. Homeowners filed a record 116,000 insurance claims, with property damage losses exceeding $300 million -- the most destructive hailstorm ever and the second costliest storm in Canada.
* Canada's Only World-Weather Record - September 11, 1995. The QE2 ocean liner was struck by a 30-metre wave during Hurricane Luis off the coast of Newfoundland, marking the largest measured wave height in the world. The massive storm covered almost the entire North Atlantic, almost 2,000 km across.
* Saguenay Flood - July 18-21, 1996. Canada's first billion dollar disaster, this deluge triggered a surge of water, rocks, trees and mud that killed 10 people and forced 12,000 residents to flee their homes. Many roads and bridges in the region disappeared.
* Hailstorm Pounds Calgary and Winnipeg - July 24, 1996. Orange-sized hailstones racked up close to $300 million in property losses. Hail clogged storm sewers, causing extensive flooding in both cities and in Winnipeg, at least a third of the cars damaged had to be written off.
* Red River Flood Levels Highest of Century - April-May, 1997. About 2,000 square km of valley lands were flooded as the Red River rose 12 m above winter levels. Thousands of volunteers and soldiers fought rising waters for days. Damage estimates reached a half a billion dollars.
* Okanagan's $100 million Hailstorm - July 21, 1997. A destructive hail and wind storm ripped through the orchards of the Okanagan. It was the worst storm in memory with nearly 40% of the crop deemed unsuitable for fresh market. The rain and hail was accompanied by winds gusting to 100 km/h that capsized boats in the interior lakes, and caused power outages and traffic accidents.
* Ice Storm of the Century - January 4-9, 1998. One of the most destructive and disruptive storms in Canadian history hit Eastern Canada causing hardship for 4 million people and costing $3 billion. Losses included millions of trees, 130 transmission towers and 120,000 km of power and telephone lines. Power outages lasted from several hours to four weeks.
* A Year-Long Heat Wave - 1998. Canada experienced its second warmest winter and warmest spring, summer and fall on record. Temperatures in 1998 were an average of 2.4 degrees warmer than normal and likely the warmest year this century.
* Costliest Forest Fire Season on Record - 1998. Flames from forest fires destroyed 4.6 million hectares of forests, about 50% more than the normal amount. The 10,560 fires were the greatest number in 10 years.
* Toronto's Snowstorm of the Century - January 2-15, 1999. A series of storms stalked the city, dumping nearly a year's amount of snow in less than two weeks. In all, the city recorded the greatest January snowfall total ever with 118.4 cm and the greatest snow on the ground at any one time with 65 cm. The storms cost the city nearly twice the annual budget in snow removal.
* Greatest Single-Day Snowfall Record - February 11, 1999. Tahtsa Lake, BC, received 145 cm of snow, a new Canadian single-day snowfall record, but well below the world's record of 192 cm at Silver Lake, Colorado on April 15, 1921.