Record wildfires has been selected as the top weather story of 2018 by Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Statistics showed there were more fires than ever this year and the total area burned was double long-term averages.
The situation was extreme in British Columbia, where there were nearly 2,000 wildfires roaring in the summer.
By August, 10 million Canadians from Victoria to the shores of Lake Superior were breathing in smoke from the Western fires.
Alberta’s cities were especially dark and dirty.
Calgary recorded 478 hours of smoke and haze. Normal summer count is 12 hours.
An August deluge in Toronto came in at number eight on the list.
A compact storm dumped 58 millimetres of rain downtown and 72 millimetres on the Toronto Island.
The suburbs and airport got almost nothing.
Two men nearly drowned in an underground parking elevator and baseball fans got rained on at the Rogers Centre, despite the fact that the roof was closed.
Here is the top 10 list:
- Record wildfires and smoky skies
- Canada affected by global summer heat wave
- Hot and dry to snow-filled skies blunt the Prairie harvest
- Powerful May winds cost $1 billion
- Ottawa-Gatineau tornadoes on summer’s last day
- Spring flooding throughout southern B.C.
- Flash flooding of the Saint John River
- Toronto’s August deluge
- Record cold start to a long winter
- A cruel, cold and stormy April
Scientists have made a clear link between climate change and extreme weather events including wildfires, haze and flooding.
They say these extreme weather events will become the norm within decades.
