As far as top ten lists go...this is my favourite. I've condensed Environment Canada's list of the top ten weather stories for 2009. I have to send out a big thanks to David Phillips for putting together this list every year...ENJOY!
10. The first story on Environment Canada’s list has to do with the 9 months of cold that the prairies endured this year. Temperatures were still as low as minus 35 by March, the May long weekend resembled Christmas, Calgary saw almost 4cm of snow in June and parts of western Saskatchewan dealt with frost in July! Oddly enough the warmest weather for the prairies occurred during the month of September.
9. Powerful prairie winds takes the number nine spot as this summer saw powerful straight line winds plough through the prairies. The most dramatic of these winds was when powerful winds tore through the site of the Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, Alberta. One person died and 75 were injured as the main stage was flattened to the horror of everyone in attendance.
8. For story number eight we head to my hometown of Hamilton, Ontario where a two day rain even left much of “Steeltown” under water. A stalled system lead to a two day rain event that flooded over 7,000 basements and left thousands without power. Flooding turned city streets, and even an expressway, into rivers and insurance losses totaled nearly $300 million.
7. It’s back to Alberta for number seven and we also head back to August 2nd when a major hail storm left a half billion dollar insurance tab in its wake. Hail as large as baseballs fell in parts of the province, one hailstone measured 10cm in diameter.
6. A story that seemed to get little coverage was the slowing of the retreat of Arctic sea ice. Although the ice continued to melt in 2009, the rate at which the ice retreated slowed…unfortunately there was no recovery.
5. It was tough going, or should I tough growing, for farmers in Alberta and Saskatchewan who dealt with a double threat. Agricultural produces faced drought and frost at the same time as the prairies experienced their driest spring in half a century and the coldest in over 30 years.
4. Spring was also very troublesome for folks living in Manitoba. Drought wasn’t the problem but just the opposite as ice jams and heavy precipitation lead to the flooding of the Red River. Flood damage exceeded $40 million and 500 homes were either damaged or destroyed.
3. The third spot goes to a story we are very familiar with here in Ontario as 2009 might as well be named the year of the tornado. July ninth alone (the deadliest day) claimed 3 lives as a series of twisters tore across the province. In total Ontario saw 29 tornadoes, far above are annual average of 11.
2. Story number two was no surprise. It was a busy wildfire season in B.C. this year. The province saw more than 3,000 fires that scorched approximately 68,000 hectares of land. The cost of fighting these fires was nearly $400 million!
1. The number one spot goes to summer 2009. I’ll be the first to admit that this summer was lame. Very lame. It was cool and wet here in Ontario and across the east and far too hot for folks living in the west. At times it was warmer in Whitehorse than Orlando yet none of that heat made its way to Peterborough. Let’s hope for a better summer in 2010!
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