Hurricane Fiona, a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 130 miles per hour, is on a collision course with the Canada’s Atlantic maritime provinces.
The minimum pressure record in Nova Scotia is 950.5 millibars, while Fiona is modeled to crash into the Canadian Maritimes at around 930 to 935 millibars. The lowest pressure recorded in all of Canada is 940 millibars.
Before Fiona makes its mark in Canada’s record book, here are three of the most devastating storms to make landfall.
Hurricane Juan (2003)
Hurricane Juan’s passage through Atlantic Canada was unique for several reasons. The storm made landfall in Canada as a Category 2 hurricane, maintaining its tropical characteristics even as it crossed through Nova Scotia and passed over Prince Edward Island.
A tropical cyclone is fueled by warm ocean water, while extratropical cyclones get their energy from atmospheric temperature contrasts like fronts.
Fiona, like most Atlantic hurricanes that impact Canada, is forecast to lose its tropical characteristics. Juan did not — it hit Canada with sustained winds of 100 miles per hour, near its peak intensity, with a minimum pressure of 969 millibars.
Juan moved through the region quickly but left a trail of devastation, causing $200 million in damage. Eight people were killed by the storm, and Halifax Stanfield International Airport recorded a peak gust of 143 km/h (88 mph), which remains the record there.
Juan was the first storm name that the Meteorological Service of Canada recommended be retired from usage due to its destruction, a request that World Meteorological Organization granted. The only other name that the Meteorological Service of Canada asked to be retired was a strong hurricane that struck Newfoundland in 2010, Igor …
Hurricane Igor (2010)
Hurricane Igor is widely considered the most destructive hurricane to strike Newfoundland. Igor, which was birthed from a tropical wave off the coast of Africa, strengthened into a strong Category 4 storm with winds up of up to 155 mph.
By the time the storm reached the eastern tip of Newfoundland, it had weakened to a strong Category 1 storm. However, the storm’s ascent to high latitudes helped to greatly expand its size, becoming the second largest Atlantic hurricane on record with gale-force winds extending 920 miles from the center of the storm, a record only surpassed by Superstorm Sandy.
Igor actually intensified as it tracked closer to Newfoundland, latching onto strong frontal energy as it began transitioning into an extratropical cyclone. Still, the storm made landfall as a tropical system with winds of up to 85 miles per hour.
The storm killed four people, including two in Canada. Unlike Juan, which dumped little rain across Canada, Igor drenched parts of Newfoundland with nearly 9.5 inches of rain, washing out bridges, roads and even homes. About $200 million in damage was reported.
Neither of these two storms were the strongest to make landfall in Atlantic Canada, though. That dubious honor goes to a storm that struck Nova Scotia all the way back in 1968, Ginny.
Hurricane Ginny (1968)
Hurricane Ginny had the highest sustained winds of any storm to impact the Canadian Maritimes.
Ginny, which made loop-de-loops of the Southeast United States as a Category 1 hurricane before accelerating northeastward and strengthening into a Category 2 storm, slammed into Nova Scotia with maximum sustained winds of nearly 110 miles per hour — right on the cusp of major hurricane status.
Ginny also was unusual in the fact that the storm dropped a significant amount of snow. When it made landfall on Oct. 29, temperatures were cold enough in parts of Canada and the United States to produce snow. According to local reporting, nearly four feet of snow fell in parts of Maine, with up to a foot of snow falling in parts of New Brunswick.
The storm caused upward of $300,000 of damage in the United States and killed three people, including two who were lost in the early season snowstorm. In Canada, power outages were widespread and strong winds blew down trees and power lines.
Other storms
These are but three of many notable storms to affect Eastern Canada, which has a long history of powerful tempests.
In 1954, the remnants of Hurricane Hazel killed 81 people, according to the Canadian Hurricane Center.
The strongest storm to ever pass through Canadian waters was Hurricane Ella in 1978, which was a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of greater than 130 miles per hour.
