Strong winds across Atlantic Canada

A fast-moving cold front passed through the Maritimes today on its way to Newfoundland.

Powerful winds developed as a result which knocked out electricity to tens of thousands of customers across New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.

The Greater Moncton International Airport recorded a gust of almost 90 km/h late this morning with Cape Breton Island reporting winds of more than 100 km/h.

Many locations across Newfoundland had hurricane-force gusts including Bonavista at 126 km/h, Wreckhouse at 107 km/h and St. John’s at 104 km/h.

The cold front also affected Southern Quebec yesterday with gusts of more than 80 km/h in Montreal and Quebec City.

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Powerful winds pummel Eastern Arctic

A powerful storm brought destructive winds to the Eastern Arctic with gusts up to 140 km/h in Nunavut, Nunavik (northern Quebec) and northern Labrador.

The power was knocked out in Iqaluit where residents were cleaning up debris and assessing roof damage on some buildings.

Environment Canada reported a peak wind gust of 124 km/h in Iqaluit but that was still below the record of 156 km/h from 1960.

Forecasters say the cyclogenesis or weather bomb featured rapidly dropping central pressure which generated strong winds.

Summer departs with gusty winds

Hints of fall colours in west end Moncton, 20 Sept 2018 (Dearing)

The same storm system which brought severe weather to Ontario and Quebec – including tornadoes – crossed through New Brunswick overnight.

Strong low pressure caused gusty winds up to 72 km/h at the Greater Moncton International Airport which turned out to be the windiest day since 02 June.

A wind gust of 85 km/h was reported in Charlo.

NB Power said almost 10,000 customers lost power at the peak of the storm thanks to trees and branches falling on utility lines.

Incidentally, fall officially arrives later tonight with the autumnal equinox at 10:54 pm ADT.

Tornadoes tear through Ottawa

Damage from a tornado in west end Ottawa, ON, 22 Sept 2018 (Instagram)

Environment Canada has confirmed two powerful tornadoes ripped through west end Ottawa before touching down again in Gatineau across the Ottawa River.

Officials say dozens were hurt and at least two residents are in hospital with critical injuries.

Tens of thousands were left without power after at least 80 utility poles either snapped or were damaged.

Meteorologists say severe thunderstorms spawned one twister classified as an EF-3 with winds up to 265 km/h while another tornado was an EF-2 with winds up to 220 km/h.

Tornadoes are not uncommon in Southern Ontario but storms of this strength are rare.

Florence creates historic flooding

Fallen tree traps residents inside home, Wilmington, NC, USA, 15 Sept 2018 (ABC)

Since making landfall near Wilmington, North Carolina on Friday morning as a Category 1 hurricane, Florence has claimed at least 15 lives.

Strong winds have toppled trees trapping some and even killing others in their own homes.

Now a tropical depression, the storm has been dumping epic amounts of rain (800 mm or more) on North and South Carolina which has caused flash flooding as rivers and streams spill their banks.

First responders have rescued almost 1,000 residents from floodwaters while nearly one million are without power and tens of thousands have sought refuge in emergency shelters.

Many highways have been left impassable and officials are urging drivers to stay at home and off the roads.

Strong winds cause destruction in Eastern Canada

Tree falls near school bus in Mississauga, Ontario, 04 May 2018 (Twitter/Peel Regional Police)

A rapidly deepening low pressure system created strong winds gusting to hurricane-strength across Southern Ontario and Southern Quebec on Friday knocking down trees and power lines causing massive outages.

Three people were killed by fallen trees and a school bus filled with children in Mississauga had a near miss.

Toronto Pearson Airport had a maximum wind gust of 119 km/h while Montreal Trudeau Airport recorded 117 km/h – both are the windiest days ever in May.

Winds were also powerful on Saturday in Greater Moncton with a wind gust of 100 km/h – the strongest since January.

Icy weekend in Central Canada

A tree falls onto an SUV in an ice storm, East York, Toronto, ON, 15 April 2018 (R. Johnston/Toronto Star)

A slow moving low pressure system brought a wintry mix of snow, ice pellets, freezing rain, rain and strong winds to Southern Ontario and Southern Quebec over the weekend.

Icy conditions led to more than 1,600 highway crashes, numerous power outages from falling trees and downed lines, cancelled flights, transit delays and school closures.

Officials were forced to close the CN Tower due to falling ice from the structure.

Here are some totals from the spring storm as of 16 April at 2pm EDT:

• Toronto Pearson Airport – 18 hours of ice pellets, 6 hours of freezing rain, 12 cm ice pellets.
• Toronto Billy Bishop Airport – Peak wind gust of 96km/h
• London – 14 hours of freezing rain with ice pellets
• Windsor – 6 hours of freezing rain
• Hamilton – 11 hours of ice pellets, 6 hours of freezing rain and ice pellets, 8 hours of freezing rain
• Ottawa – 9 hours of freezing rain Sunday, 6 hours of freezing rain Monday, wind gusts to 70 km/h
• Montreal – 9 hours of freezing rain Saturday, 4 hours of freezing rain Sunday, 3 hours freezing rain Monday
• Quebec City – 5 hours of freezing rain Monday

(Data courtesy Environment Canada)

Nor’easter nails U.S. Northeast

Heavy waves crash into homes in Scituate, MA, USA, 02 March 2018 (Boston Globe)

A powerful storm surge forced water from the Atlantic to pour into the streets of Boston as huge waves crashed along the Massachusetts coast in a powerful Nor’easter roaring through the American Northeast.

For the second time this year alone, businesses tried to prevent flooding by using barriers and sandbags.

The storm packed strong winds with gusts of more than 110 km/h with driving rain in coastal areas to heavy snow in upstate New York.

Power has been knocked out for millions of customers and thousands of flights have been cancelled from Maine to North Carolina.

The Maritimes has managed to escape this system which will head out to sea but not before brushing southwestern Nova Scotia with gusty winds and heavy surf.

Heavy snow buries Moscow

Plowing snow near St. Basil’s Cathedral, Red Square, Moscow, Russia, 05 Feb 2018 (Maximov/AFP)

The first weekend of February was marked by freezing rain and periods of heavy snow in the Russian capital city.

Moscow has been buried with more than 60 cm of snow which has shattered previous records, caused massive power outages and led to a rare ‘snow day’ for school students on Monday.

Drivers were urged to stay home as the so-called “snowfall of the century” downed over 2,000 trees and even the Russian army was deployed to help dig out.

The Russian weather agency was forecasting a low of -17 C by early Tuesday and another 8 cm of snow could fall in the next few days.

Deadly mudslides in California

Aftermath of mudslides in Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 09 Jan 2018 (US Coast Guard)

Only a month after California endured searing wildfires, the southern part of the state is now grappling with deadly mudslides thanks to heavy rain and barren ground from a recently scorched landscape.

Santa Barbara County has been the hardest hit area with hundreds of homes damaged and at least 65 destroyed.

The death toll stands at 17 with almost 30 injured and more than 40 reported missing.

Thousands lost electricity and a portion of a major highway (US 101) had to be temporarily closed due to the mud which covered it.