Severe flooding that has displaced thousands of people in southern Manitoba has reached levels that are quite literally out of this world. Satellite images of flooding in the Red River Valley were NASA Earth Observatory’s images of the day on Thursday. The two false-colour images, taken on Tuesday and Wednesday, show the flooded valley on...
Category: Environment
Extreme heat should be labelled a natural disaster, new report urges
A new report says governments should consider extreme heat events to be natural disasters as climate change raises the risk of soaring summer temperatures in most of Canada’s biggest cities. The Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo urges Canadians to take the threat of intense heat more seriously. It warns more...
Winter storm warnings in place for much of southern Manitoba, parts of Saskatchewan
As much as 30 to 50 centimetres of snow is expected for the region by Friday, along with winds reaching up to 90 km/h, while the western escarpment of the Red River Valley, the Riding Mountains, and the Turtle Mountains could see as much as 80 cm of accumulation.
Cattle helping to manage B.C. wildfire risk with targeted grazing
A handful of ranchers in British Columbia’s Interior are getting ready to graze their cattle in concentrated areas near homes and community infrastructure, where they’ll eat the grasses that dry over the summer and heighten the wildfire risk. As part of a pilot program led by the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association, ranchers around Kelowna, Peachland, Summerland and...
Winter storm causing school closures, transportation disruptions in parts of Ontario
A winter storm of rare proportions blanketed much of southern Ontario with heavy snow Monday, causing widespread school closures and travel disruptions, at one point shutting down two major highways. Environment Canada issued snowfall, winter storm or blizzard warnings for a stretch of the province spanning from the Cornwall area to the east, the Algonquin...
B.C. farmers ‘white-knuckling’ their way through extreme cold after floods, heat dome
"For many, this will be remembered as the year that climate change arrived on our doorsteps. Here in B.C., we faced record-setting droughts, heat waves and forest fires, floods and mudslides," BC Premier John Hogan said.
Western Canada under extreme cold warning, wind chill reaching -55 C
Environment Canada said wind chill can range between -40 C and -55 C in Edmonton and Calgary; while most of British Columbia and Saskatchewan, along with parts of Manitoba and Ontario, are under extreme cold weather warnings.
Visit to flooded farm gives ‘greater sense of loss’: B.C. agriculture minister
ABBOTSFORD, B.C. — The federal agriculture minister and her provincial counterpart said they were both moved to tears hearing about the devastation farmers endured in British Columbia’s recent floods and how those same people found the strength to help each other. Marie-Claude Bibeau was joined by her provincial counterpart Lana Popham on Friday for a...
B.C. floods cause at least $450 million in damage, Insurance Bureau of Canada reports
VANCOUVER — The Insurance Bureau of Canada estimates the insured damage caused by flooding in British Columbia last month at $450 million, calling it the “most costly severe weather event in the province’s history.” However, the overall costs are expected to be much higher since many people affected by the flooding in southwestern B.C. were...
Worst of B.C. weather over; massive cleanup, rebuild ahead, says government
VICTORIA, December 2, 2021 — The successive storms that brutalized southern British Columbia with floods and slides caused by record amounts of rainfall were declared over Thursday, but now the cleanup and costly rebuild lie ahead, says the public safety minister. The work will involve repairing vital transportation routes crippled by floods and slides, restoring...