Canada Hurricanes

[HurricaneBill]

As Juan showed in 2003, even our neighbors to the north have to deal with a hurricane every now and then. Many times, storms will hit Canada as extratropical systems, but some hurricanes do make it up there.

Hurricanes that have struck Canada since 1950:
(I'm including extratropical hurricanes.)

1950: Hurricane Able (Nova Scotia as a Category 1 hurricane)
Hurricane George (Newfoundland as a 65KT extratropical hurricane)

1953: Hurricane Barbara (Nova Scotia as a 70KT extratropical hurricane)
Hurricane Carol (New Brunswick as a Category 1 hurricane)

1954: Hurricane Carol (Entered Quebec as a 75KT extratropical hurricane)
Hurricane Edna (Entered New Brunswick as a 65KT extratropical hurricane)
Hurricane Hazel (Entered Ontario as a 70KT extratropical hurricane)

1958: Hurricane Helene (Newfoundland as a Category 1 hurricane)

1962: Hurricane Daisy (Nova Scotia as a Category 1 hurricane)

1963: Hurricane Ginny (Nova Scotia as a 90KT extratropical hurricane)

1966: Hurricane Celia (Nova Scotia as a Category 1 hurricane; Newfoundland as a 65KT extratropical hurricane)

1969: Hurricane Debbie (Newfoundland as a Category 1 hurricane)
Hurricane Gerda (Entered New Brunswick as a Category 2 hurricane)

1971: Hurricane Beth (Nova Scotia as a Category 1 hurricane)

1975: Hurricane Blanche (Nova Scotia as a Category 1 hurricane)

1977: Hurricane Evelyn (Nova Scotia as a Category 1 hurricane)

1978: Hurricane Ella (Brushed Newfoundland as a Category 3 hurricane)

1982: Hurricane Debby (Brushed Newfoundland as a Category 2 hurricane)

1990: Hurricane Bertha (Nova Scotia as a Category 1 hurricane)

1995: Hurricane Luis (Newfoundland as a Category 1 hurricane)

1996: Hurricane Hortense (Nova Scotia as a Category 1 hurricane)

2000: Hurricane Michael (Newfoundland as a Category 2 hurricane)

2001: Hurricane Erin (Newfoundland as a Category 1 hurricane)

2002: Hurricane Gustav (Nova Scotia as a Category 1 hurricane; Newfoundland as a Category 1 hurricane)

2003: Hurricane Juan (Nova Scotia as a Category 2 hurricane)

[krysof]

I'm very lucky during the season, thanks to north carolina and new england, trhe cape I'm protected from any direct hurricanes.Hurricanes can come to Canada and europe, but not in good old new jersey. We are very lucky on a yearly bases. We never see anything bad except a couple snowstorms, but they don't last long and we recover. I'm not in a flood zone, sometimes a few strong thunderstorms brush by but it's okay, no damage here.

[HURAKAN]

You may have forgotten Hurricane Karen, 2001.

[Derek Ortt]

karen was a TS at landfall.

One note about Luis, CHC lists Luis as a category 3 hurricane at landfall with 105KT sustained winds. However, the worst of the weather missed St John's, unlike in the case of Juan. I believe CHC has the official say on Canadian intensities, or at least they do know which is why Juan is listed as a cat 2 at landfall

[cyclonaut]

Yep they do get their share,thanks for providing that list HB.

They get hit way more often than I imagined.

[HURAKAN]

karen was a TS at landfall.

One note about Luis, CHC lists Luis as a category 3 hurricane at landfall with 105KT sustained winds. However, the worst of the weather missed St John's, unlike in the case of Juan. I believe CHC has the official say on Canadian intensities, or at least they do know which is why Juan is listed as a cat 2 at landfall

Good work, I didn't noticed that you have only listed the tropical cyclones that reached hurricane force.

[tropicana]

Hazel will always be remembered in this city (Toronto) for its destructiveness and deadliness. Though I wasn't around then, to read the excerpts on this powerhouse storm is nothing short of fascinating.

rHurricane Hazel
(October 6 to October 15, 1954)
In Canada, the most remembered hurricane was Hurricane Hazel in 1954 that re-intensified unexpectedly and rapidly, resulting in 81 deaths and over $100 million in damage in Southern Ontario. Most of the destruction was a result of flooding from over 200 millimetres of rain in less than 24 hours.

Hurricane Hazel developed at 12° North, 61.2° West on October 5, 1954. The hurricane passed near of the island of Grenada in the Windward Islands and into the Caribbean Sea. It continued on a west to northwest course until the night of October 9 when it curved northward. Here it reached its highest winds of 213 kilometres per hour (115 knots). In the 12 hours after Hazel struck the Carolina coast, it traveled with extreme speed on a north-northwest track. It passed through the western suburbs of Washington, D. C. and spun across Pennsylvania and New York into Ontario maintaining its intensity all the way. In the US, it is estimated that Hazel caused $1.5 billion in damages and killed 100 people. The Toronto weather office only issued a weather advisory about the storm so residents of Toronto carried on with their lives as usual. During the night of October 18, Hurricane Hazel pelted Toronto with rain and killed 81 people. On one street alone, Raymore Drive, 35 neighbours were drowned.

-justin-

[HurricaneBill]

Hazel sounds like such an unbelievable storm.

I wish satellite had been around to track it.

I wonder if any radar shots exist of Hazel.

[Derek Ortt]

no radar until 1957

[HurricaneBill]

But I have radar pics of Alice (1955), Connie (1955), and Betsy (1956) in my collection of hurricane pics.

[JTD]

Ah, a topic of some personal interest to me I'm a Canadian.

Hurricane Juan was actually ferocious. It was just a category 2 hurricane but it did tremendous damage in Nova Scotia. It was huge news up here for 3 or 4 days. It practically affected all of Atlantic Canada.

[HurricaneBill]

Ah, a topic of some personal interest to me I'm a Canadian.

Hurricane Juan was actually ferocious. It was just a category 2 hurricane but it did tremendous damage in Nova Scotia. It was huge news up here for 3 or 4 days. It practically affected all of Atlantic Canada.

The reason for that was because Juan did not begin extratropical transition until it was nearly at landfall. Therefore, Juan was still pretty much a tropical cyclone at landfall. The strongest winds were still at lower levels. Extratropical systems have their strongest winds higher up.

That's the reason Hurricane Bob was stronger than Gloria in New England. Gloria was undergoing extratropical transition well before her Long Island landfall.

Bob, however, did not begin extratropical transition until after making landfall on Cape Cod.

[HurricaneBill]

Ah, a topic of some personal interest to me I'm a Canadian.

Hurricane Juan was actually ferocious. It was just a category 2 hurricane but it did tremendous damage in Nova Scotia. It was huge news up here for 3 or 4 days. It practically affected all of Atlantic Canada.

Juan is the first hurricane to be retired due to impacting Canada.

I've seen pics of the destruction from Juan.

[Huckster]

Ah, a topic of some personal interest to me I'm a Canadian.

Hurricane Juan was actually ferocious. It was just a category 2 hurricane but it did tremendous damage in Nova Scotia. It was huge news up here for 3 or 4 days. It practically affected all of Atlantic Canada.

Juan is the first hurricane to be retired due to impacting Canada.

I've seen pics of the destruction from Juan.

Here are some satellite pics of Juan and a radar shot:

http://www.gungeralv.org/notes/archives/images/000538.hurricane-juan.jpg
http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/images/106547_m.jpg
http://www.atl.ec.gc.ca/weather/hurricane/juan/goes-juan.jpg
http://whitt.ca/images/Juan-radar.gif

Plenty of damage pics:

http://www.atl.ec.gc.ca/weather/hurricane/juan/photos_e.html
http://www.mcnabsisland.ca/Gallery/HurricaneJuan/
http://www.gaust.com/photogallery/juan%20photos/hurricane%20juan.htm

Some facts/figures:

http://www.atl.c.ec.gc.ca/weather/hurricane/juan/summary_e.html

[Derek Ortt]

a cat 2 for that part of the world is like a cat 3 in fla or the GC. Bob in 1991 caused 1.5 billion in damage and it was a 90KT storm at landfall

[HurricaneBill]

Surprisingly, one of the least-mentioned tropical systems to hit Canada?

The 1900 Galveston hurricane. Although probably barely at TD strength, it is one of the deadliest to hit Canada.


http://www.magma.ca/~jdreid/great_1900_hurricane.htm

[dougjp]

I was a kid at the time of Hazel, in Toronto. My mother had dropped me off near a house where I was (told to....lol) take music lessons, just as the first bands of Hazel arrived. Even now, I vividly remember holding on to a signpost with both my feet off the ground for a brief period. No doubt that's where my fascination with tropical systems first started.

Hurricane Isabel in September 2003 is quite rightly not on this list for the Toronto area, although it came within hours of being Cat 1 or strong TS force on arrival. It was forecast (as near as 24 hours beforehand) to intensify south of the Great Lakes as a rapidly moving system from the west was to merge with it, however that missed. There were times during Isabel's pre-landfall days where its track and strength were compared to Hazel, and as much as 10 days ahead the projected track showed Isabel arriving around Toronto. I will always remember the lack of commentary up here, and even forecasts 3-4 days prior indicating nothing unusual. Water drainage systems have been vastly improved since Hazel, however based on the lack of preparation and information about Isabel, I can't help but think Toronto is a disaster waiting to happen.

[HurricaneBill]

a cat 2 for that part of the world is like a cat 3 in fla or the GC. Bob in 1991 caused 1.5 billion in damage and it was a 90KT storm at landfall

Most of that damage was confined to Rhode Island and SE Massachusetts.

Bob took a similar path to Edna in 1954.

Had Bob taken a path similar to Gloria or Carol, the damage would have been a lot more.

In fact, Bob is considered to be the worst hurricane to hit Buzzard's Bay since Carol. I don't know what the tide was at landfall, but Bob caused a 10 foot storm surge there.

Bob left 18 dead including 2 in Nova Scotia.

[Derek Ortt]

those in toronto are far too concerned about the threat of hurricanes. Nazel was an anomaly because it moved in excess of 40KT, which is nearly impossible for a NW moving storm

Now those in the maritimes do need to be concerned as they have experienced 5 hurricane landfalls since 1995, along with a very near miss from erin in 2001. In addition, 2 tropical storms have made landfall in the area

[HalloweenGale]

what was GERT or FLOYD?