As is often the case, the weather-related troubles of Canadian farmers made Environment Canada’s list of the top 10 weather events of the year.
Released Wednesday, the list was of course headlined by this year’s record wildfire season, one which saw about 184,500 square kilometres of Canadian forests go up in smoke, at least twice the previous worst year and seven times the 10-year average.
However, coming in at No. 5 on the list was the persistent dryness and overly wet conditions that stalked the western and eastern portions of the country, respectively, through the summer months.
Across Western and Northwest Canada, a persistent large high-pressure area stationed over British Columbia and Alberta kept rains away and temperatures elevated by as much as 10 degrees above normal for much of the year, Environment Canada said.
Enduring drought also prompted several communities to declare states of local emergency and impose strict water restrictions. Millions of residents and commercial customers were asked to conserve precious drinking water, even cautioning farmers to be frugal with their water usage, as some water reservoirs were nearly empty.
“It left some ranchers with no choice but to sell their cattle prematurely.”
Yields were crimped in some Prairie areas and decimated in others.
In Lethbridge, Alberta and Winnipeg, Manitoba, the amount of precipitation from February through May 2023 was among the lowest on record in over 100 years.
Even farmers in Eastern Canada were initially concerned about an alarmingly dry spring and maximum temperatures that soared above 30 degrees C in mid-April - never had it been so warm so early in the year.
But there were outliers too. Edmonton was a real anomaly this summer recording almost 60% more rain than normal. Some residents of the town of Edson, twice forced from their homes by earlier forest fires, were later forced to leave due to flooding, Environment Canada said.
On the other hand, the summer months in southeastern Canada were as moisture laden as the Prairies (and northwestern Canada) were dry. Stagnant low-pressure systems were repeatedly positioned between James Bay through the Great Lakes to the Maritimes, favouring lengthy bouts of rain, overcast skies, and coolness.
The Maritimes experienced its wettest summer in history, seeing more than double the normal amount of rainfall.
Record rains in July also led to dramatic rises in Québec waterways leading to flooding and evacuations from Saguenay to Sherbrooke. In Ontario, a steady stream of showers and thunderstorms pushed through the southwestern parts of the province in late August, bringing totals as high as 185 mm to several locations.
Heavy downpours also hit parts of Ontario in July, with some systems extending all the way from Windsor to Quebec.
Insurance costs to property losses from some of the more impactful storms this summer in Ontario and Québec totaled more than three quarters of a billion dollars, Environment Canada said.
The full list of the top 10 weather events can be seen here:
https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/top-ten-weather-stories/2023.html
