Storm Events in the Atlantic Region

Winter 2000/2001

New Brunswick Storm Surge

Newfoundland Heavy Snowfall

Nova Scotia Freezing Rain Storm

(Click on images to enlarge and for storm summaries.)

Here are a few examples of storm events which occurred in the Atlantic region:

December 2000

In mid-December, three storms buffeted the Maritime Provinces in the period of less than two weeks leaving destruction and power outages in their path. All three storms had winds gusts nearing or exceeding 100 km/h with one storm’s peak winds at over 130 km/h (equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane). Roofs were blown off two homes in Nova Scotia.

In addition to the high winds, these storms brought heavy snow, freezing rain and flooding downpours to locations in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, causing power outages to tens of thousands of homes and businesses. Some New Brunswick residents were without electricity for more than 50 hours. Power companies from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and even the State of Maine sought help from each other to deal with the extra workload needed to restore service.

Marine Atlantic ferry service from Cape Breton to Newfoundland was shut down twice during the run of the storms. Flooding across both lanes of the Trans-Canada highway near New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, caused a highway shut-down for the first time in its history. Two highway fatalities in Nova Scotia were directly attributed to poor weather conditions during the first storm. Many traffic accidents occurred including semi-trailer trucks blowing over, and several injuries were reported during the storms.

January 2001

On January 16, Prince Edward Island residents were busy cleaning up following a snowstorm. Charlottetown got just 13 centimetres of snow, but high winds whipped up snowdrifts as high as two meters on the highway shoulders. There were scores of multi-vehicle accidents and hundreds of vehicles were abandoned. Some RCMP vehicles received minor damages from collisions while officers attended accident scenes, and several tow trucks broke down from worn-out clutches.

On January 21, a storm blasted Nova Scotia with upwards of 30 centimetres of snow and powerful Northeasterly winds. On January 27, yet another snow storm hit St. John’s, Newfoundland. There was about 335 centimeters of snow on the ground – about six times the normal amount.

Meanwhile in New Brunswick, a clean-up and rescue operation continued at a Sainte-Marie-de-Kent farm after part of the farm housing 9,000 pigs collapsed under heavy snow, killing hundreds of pigs.

February 2001

On February 5 and 6, a low pressure system formed along the eastern United States seaboard and intensified rapidly as it moved northward. The center of the storm passed right over northern Nova Scotia, putting New Brunswick under the heaviest snowfall path. Snowfall amounts ranged from 30 to 55 centimetres with winds gusting as high as 100 km/h giving blizzard conditions almost everywhere. Some storm surge gave minor flooding along the Northumberland Strait. Northeastern regions were hit the hardest, with the storm forcing the closure of schools, government offices, stores, banks and restaurants.

Heavy snow across Atlantic Canada brought down several roofs across the region. In St. John’s, Newfoundland the roof of a distribution center caved in causing approximately $100 000 in damages. Part of the roof of a Halifax bingo hall and department store collapsed. The snow-laden, rain-soaked roof triggered a chain reaction that dislodged two lower floors, destroyed thousands of items and blew out a brick wall. The resulting noise reportedly sounded like an earthquake.

Then, on February 26, across western and central Nova Scotia, motorists and pedestrians slipped and slid on a slick sheen of ice following nine hours of freezing rain. Several schools closed across the province making for a record seven days in the winter of 2001.

March 2001

As of March 1st, 282 centimeters of snow had fallen in Charlottetown, about 115 per cent of normal totals for this time of year. There were frequent whiteouts and many hours of drifting and blowing snow, conditions that caused many multi-vehicle pile-ups. Seven school days were canceled in the province that winter.

April 2001

From April 1st to 4th, a series of winter storms dumped between 20 and 60 centimetres of snow on much of eastern Newfoundland and along the south coast of the island. The extreme weather coincided with the start of a massive provincial public service strike which included highway personnel and snow-clearing operators. Highways and side-roads quickly became blocked with snowbanks - some drifts were reportedly nearly five and a half metres high. As communities became more isolated, concern increased with respect to supplies of food and pharmaceutical supplies, heating oil delivery and emergency response capability. The weather subsided by week's end. Then, on April 7, more snow arrived, breaking St. John's all-time snowfall record for a single season. The final tally was 648.4 centimetres, which is more than the record totals for any other major city in Canada.