Toronto 
Environment and Climate Change Canada has released its list of Top 10 Weather Stories for 2021.
This year Canadians witnessed town burning heat domes, unbelievable fall-season rains and floods, EF-2 tornadoes with British Columbia being ground zero for weather catastrophes.
The Prairies continued to experience drought and the hot and dry climate which caused early wildfire season leading to Calgary seeing 512 hours of smoke and haze, far exceeding the average of 12 hours per year.
Environment Canada says the temperature extremes in 2021 covered a range of 100 degrees, varying from a record hot of 49.6 °C to the coldest temperature in 4 years at -51.9 °C.
Canada was also battered by 6 tropical storms, including Hurricane Larry in Newfoundland and Labrador which was the longest-lasting Category 5 hurricane in Atlantic basin history.
Environment and Climate Change Canada ranked weather stories of 2021 from 1 to 10, according to a number of factors that include the impact they had on Canada and Canadians, the extent of the affected area, the associated economic impacts, and the longevity as a top news story.
Here is a look at the top 10 weather events and the names given by the organisation for each event:
1. Record heat under the dome
Lytton, 260 km northeast of Vancouver set a new Canadian record high temperature of 49.6 °C on June 29, nearly 24 °C higher than normal. The next day, 90% of the small town of Lytton burned to the ground. This raging fire resulted in 2 deaths and displaced 1200.
The inferno-like heat wave that lasted from June 24 to July 4 broke 1000 daily temperature records over 11 days, with over 100 records between 40 °C and 50 °C and some by 12 degrees.
The heatwave occurred across the Prairies and along the Pacific Coast with the month of June recording unfathomable extremes – Victoria recorded 40 °C – 20 °C above average, Kamloops had 6 days of greater than 40 °C temperatures in June, Edmonton matched its record of 7 consecutive days with highs above 30 °C, Calgary broke all-time highest temperature record for the city over the past 140 years.
An American climatologist claimed no other heatwave in the world had ever broken more temperature records than the Canadian heatwave which caused power grids to fail, and highways to buckle.
2. British Columbia’s flood of floods
BC Highway 5 – Coquihalla at Juliet/B.C. Ministry of Transportation
On November 13th, atmospheric rivers powered by jet stream winds created a flood of floods that may be one of the most destructive and expensive weather disasters in Canadian history.
Some places received between 200 and 300 mm in 2.5 days; well above November’s average monthly total. In 2 days, 40 daily rainfall records were eclipsed with totals experienced only once every 100 years.
Due to this, the sides of mountains broke away, British Columbia Highway 8 fell into the Nicola River, floods submerged entire towns and parts of cities and caused agricultural disaster with approximately 1.3 million animals dying in flooded fields.
3. Canada dry coast to coast
The lack of snow in winter 2020-21 and dry spring caused widespread drought.
It was also one of the driest summers in 75 years. From southern British Columbia to northwestern Ontario the lack of rain caused an economic loss easily in the billions of dollars.
4. Wildfire season – early, active and unrelenting
The wildfires started a month early in 2021 due to the record dry spring and early loss of alpine snow.
This year, Canada recorded out-of-control wildfires in every province and territory except for Atlantic Canada and Nunavut.
The only exception was Alberta. Though only 15 percent of the normal area was burned by Alberta wildfires, air quality in Alberta deteriorated and the sun-blocking haze reduced afternoon temperatures by 5 °C or more.
The wildfire smoke from B.C. caused 512 hours of smoke and haze in Calgary and the dirtiest skies in 70 years of record keeping. Calgary Stampede had to cancel horseracing and chuckwagon races over safety concerns for animals, participants and spectators.
5. Canada rides out four heatwaves
Summer 2021 ranked as the fifth warmest season in the past 74 years and only Nunavut had temperatures closer to normal.
Canada experienced four heatwaves this summer including the heat dome in B.C.
Alberta and Saskatchewan also experienced their warmest summers in at least 60 years.
6. Year of the EF2 tornado
Canada recorded multiple Enhanced Fujita 2 (EF) scale tornados this year – with wind speeds between 180 km/h and 220 km/h.
The first destructive EF2 tornado stuck on June 21 struck Mascouche, Que. and lasted 15 to 20 seconds over a 6.5 km track. The tornado was fatal killing a man. He was also the first tornado victim in Québec in 27 years.
Though weather forecasters expected a stormy day in Southern Ontario, a EF2 tornado hit Barrie with little warning – there was no prior rain and the sky was without lightning and thunder – on July 15th. This tornado with maximum winds of 210 km/h along a damage track of 12.5 km long and 510 m wide caused damage to more than 150 homes.
Environment Canada says on that day, 6 more tornadoes were also confirmed as EF2 and 3 as EF1.
7. Dreaded Arctic blast freezes Canada in February
An Arctic blast from Siberia and a high-pressure system over Greenland created temperatures to drop 20 °C below normal in Alberta and Saskatchewan and 20 °C above normal in southern Baffin Island in February of 2021.
The Arctic blast broke over 225 daily low minimum temperature records across Western Canada and the Yukon and recorded –51.9 C in Wekweeti, N.W.T., the coldest temperature in Canada in four years.
Though multiple low minimum daily records were broken in February, it was the 11th warmest winter of the past century.
8. Another hailer-flooder in Calgary
Calgary, which has a reputation as the hailstorm capital of Canada, suffered yet another hailstorm in July.
The 2021 hail storm made it to the list of Top 10 weather events the second year in a row.
Though this year’s storm was not as destructive or as costly as the one in 2022, 16 000 insurance claims for damages to vehicles from cracked or smashed windshields and dented hulls totalled $128 million and total storm losses from 39 000 insurance claims exceeded $555 million.
9. Hurricane Larry belonged to Newfoundland
Atlantic basin in 2021 reported 21 named tropical storms from Ana to Wanda, and 7 hurricanes, of which 4 were major or intense at sustained winds of 178 km/h or greater.
The biggest of all was Hurricane Larry that made landfall as a Category 1 storm west of the Avalon Peninsula with sustained winds of 130 km/h and wind gusts up to 180 km/h.
10. January prairie clipper
The Alberta Clipper that arrived in January caused multiple gusts exceeding 100 km/h across southern and central Alberta and southern Saskatchewan rounds out Environment Canada’s list of Top 10 Weather Events.
The winds blew many anemometers away. Gusts with speeds as high as 137 km/h winds at Barnwell, Alberta and 143 km/h at Bratt’s Lake, Saskatchewan and 161 km/h at Moose Jaw Airport were recorded.
Environment and Climate Change Canada in a statement noted, “Climate change is among the greatest long-term threats facing Canada and the world, and the increased frequency of severe weather events means it is critical Canada accelerate its action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help avoid the dangerous impacts of climate change, and to build community resiliency. Addressing climate change and adapting to severe weather requires collective action, and the Government of Canada is committed to working with provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous peoples, and stakeholders on a national adaptation strategy and to meet Canada’s 2030 emissions reduction target.”
More Information: Canada’s top 10 weather stories of 2021
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