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Severe Weather Terminology (Canada)
This article describes severe weather terminology used by the Meteorological Service of Canada, a branch within Environment and Climate Change Canada. The article primarily describes various weather warnings, and their criteria. Related weather scales and general weather terms are also addressed in this article. Some terms are specific to certain regions. Warning categories Severe weather bulletins are issued as a watch or a warning, depending on the risk or severity of the event. *Watches are issued when conditions are favourable for the development of severe weather, but the occurrence, location, and/or timing is still too uncertain to issue a warning. The target lead time for severe thunderstorm watches is typically six hours before the event, whereas watches for winter events have a target lead time of 12 to 24 hours in advance. Watches are intended to raise awareness of the public to the potential for hazardous weather conditions, and typically serve as a lead-up to a warnin ...
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Severe Weather
Severe weather is any dangerous meteorological phenomenon with the potential to cause damage, serious social disruption, or loss of human life. Types of severe weather phenomena vary, depending on the latitude, altitude, topography, and atmospheric conditions. High winds, hail, excessive precipitation, and wildfires are forms and effects of severe weather, as are thunderstorms, downbursts, tornadoes, waterspouts, tropical cyclones, and extratropical cyclones. Regional and seasonal severe weather phenomena include blizzards (snowstorms), ice storms, and duststorms. Extreme weather phenomena which cause extreme heat, cold, wetness or drought often will bring severe weather events. One of the principal effects of anthropogenic climate change is changes in severe and extreme weather patterns. Terminology Meteorologists have generally defined severe weather as any aspect of the weather that poses risks to life, property or requires the intervention of authorities. A narrower ...
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Tropical Storm
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by different names, including hurricane (), typhoon (), tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, or simply cyclone. A hurricane is a strong tropical cyclone that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean or northeastern Pacific Ocean, and a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. In the Indian Ocean, South Pacific, or (rarely) South Atlantic, comparable storms are referred to simply as "tropical cyclones", and such storms in the Indian Ocean can also be called "severe cyclonic storms". "Tropical" refers to the geographical origin of these systems, which form almost exclusively over tropical seas. "Cyclone" refers to their winds moving in a circle, whirling round ...
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Suetes
Suetes, ''suêtes'', ''les suêtes'', are strong south-east foehn winds on the west coast of Cape Breton Island. The term "suête" originates from the Acadian French inhabitants of the Chéticamp area as a contraction of "sud est" (south-east). The western edge of the Cape Breton Highlands The Cape Breton Highlands (french: Plateau du Cap-Breton, gd, Àrd-thalamh Cheap Bhreatainn), commonly called the Highlands, refer to a highland or mountainous plateau across the northern part of Cape Breton Island in the Canadian province of N ... plateau slopes abruptly down to sea level from approximately altitude. South-easterly winds lift on the east side of the island and flow across the plateau, frequently accelerating to high velocities on the steep downslope in stable airmass condition. The weather station at Grand Etang has recorded wind speeds of over on several occasions. References External links * Suetes winds on youtube Föhn effect Inverness County, Nova Scotia ...
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Magdalen Islands
The Magdalen Islands (french: Îles de la Madeleine ) are a small archipelago in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence with a land area of . While part of the Province of Quebec, the islands are in fact closer to the Maritime provinces and Newfoundland than to the Gaspé Peninsula on the Quebec mainland. The islands are considered a part of the Mi'kma'ki, of the Mi'kmaw Nation, who call the islands Menagoesenog. Administratively, the islands are part of the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region in the Canadian province of Quebec. The islands form the territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and the census division (CD) of Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine. Their geographical code is 01. The islands are also coextensive with the urban agglomeration of Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine, which is divided into two municipalities: Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine ( 2011 census pop. 12,291), the central municipality, and Grosse-Île (pop. 490). Their mayors are Gaétan Richard and Rose Elmond ...
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Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. As of 2021, the landmass of the four Atlantic provinces was approximately 488,000 km2, and had a population of over 2.4 million people. The provinces combined had an approximate GDP of $121.888 billion in 2011. The term ''Atlantic Canada'' was popularized following the admission of Newfoundland as a Canadian province in 1949. History The first premier of Newfoundland, Joey Smallwood, coined the term "Atlantic Canada" when Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949. He believed that it would have been presumptuous for Newfoundland to assume that it could include itself within the existing term "Maritime provinces," used to describe the cultural similarities shared by New Brunswick, Prince ...
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Freezing Rain
Freezing rain is rain maintained at temperatures below freezing by the ambient air mass that causes freezing on contact with surfaces. Unlike a mixture of rain and snow or ice pellets, freezing rain is made entirely of liquid droplets. The raindrops become supercooled while passing through a sub-freezing layer of air hundreds of meters above the ground, and then freeze upon impact with any surface they encounter, including the ground, trees, electrical wires, aircraft, and automobiles. The resulting ice, called glaze ice, can accumulate to a thickness of several centimeters and cover all exposed surfaces. The METAR code for freezing rain is FZRA. A storm that produces a significant thickness of glaze ice from freezing rain is often referred to as an ice storm. Although these storms are not particularly violent, freezing rain is notorious for causing travel problems on roadways, breaking tree limbs, and downing power lines from the weight of accumulating ice. Downed power lines ...
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Snow Squall Warning
A snow squall warning ( SAME code: SQW) is a bulletin issued by Environment Canada's Meteorological Service of Canada and the National Weather Service in the United States to warn population of two types of snow events reducing visibility in blowing snow: ''lake effect'' ''snow squalls'' and ''frontal snow squalls''. Phenomenon Lake effect snow squalls are generated by cold arctic air moving over unfrozen water of lake or sea. These will reduce visibility to less than 1 km and produce large accumulations of snow on the ground along narrow corridors in lee of the waters. Duration of these events can extend for days. Frontal snow squalls are associated with a fast moving intense cold front in winter. Visibility must be reduce to less than 500 m, wind over 40 km/h with a wind shift. Quantities of snow is not important with this type but intensity is heavy for a short period, typically 10 to 20 minutes. Criteria Canada In Canada, snow squall warnings are issued for ...
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Haines Highway
The Haines Highway or Haines Cut-Off (and still often called the Haines Road) is a highway that connects Haines, Alaska, in the United States, with Haines Junction, Yukon, Canada, passing through the province of British Columbia. It follows the route of the old Dalton Trail from the port of Haines inland for about to Klukshu, Yukon, and then continues to Haines Junction. The highway is about long, of which is in Alaska. The highway was known as Yukon Highway 4 until 1978, when it was renumbered Highway 3. It has no number in British Columbia, but editions of ''The Milepost'' up to at least 2004 list it as Hwy 4, a number actually in use on Vancouver Island. The Alaska section is part of Alaska Route 7. History The route was originally a trail used by Chilkat Tlingit traders, which eventually became the Dalton Trail. It was used by some prospectors during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898-1899; other mining kept the lower Dalton Trail active through the years following its ...
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Tree Line
The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowpack, or associated lack of available moisture). The tree line is sometimes distinguished from a lower timberline, which is the line below which trees form a forest with a closed Canopy (biology), canopy. At the tree line, tree growth is often sparse, stunted, and deformed by wind and cold. This is sometimes known as ''krummholz'' (German for "crooked wood"). The tree line often appears well-defined, but it can be a more gradual transition. Trees grow shorter and often at lower densities as they approach the tree line, above which they are unable to grow at all. Given a certain latitude, the tree line is approximately 300 to 1000 meters below the permanent snow line and roughly parallel to it. Causes Due to their vertical structure, tree ...
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Blizzard Warning
A blizzard warning ( SAME code: BZW) is a hazardous weather statement issued by Weather Forecast Offices (WFO) of the National Weather Service (NWS) in the United States, which indicates heavy snowfall accompanied by sustained winds or frequent gusts of or greater are forecast to occur for a minimum of three hours. A blizzard tends to reduce visibilities to or less. A Severe Blizzard Warning is a variation issued in some cases of winds above and temperatures below . Most local weather offices will activate and broadcast the SAME alarm tone on relevant NOAA Weather Radio stations for both varieties of warning. When the Wireless Emergency Alerts system was launched in 2012, blizzard warnings were initially sent as alerts to mobile phones; this practice was discontinued in November 2013. In Canada, comparable warnings are issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada through the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC). As of 2010, Blizzard Warnings issued by local MSC forecast off ...
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Winter Storm Warning
A winter storm warning ( SAME code: WSW) is a hazardous weather statement issued by Weather Forecast Offices (WFO) of the National Weather Service (NWS) in the United States to alert the public that a winter storm is occurring or is about to occur in the area, usually within 36 hours of the storm's onset. A similar warning is issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) through local forecast offices of the Meteorological Service of Canada. Definition Generally, a Winter Storm Warning is issued if the following criteria, at minimum, are forecast: snow accumulations usually between or greater than , or snow accumulations of usually or more with significant accumulation of ice ( sleet or freezing rain). In the Southern United States, where severe winter weather is much less common and any snow is a more significant event, warning criteria are lower, as low as in the southernmost areas: as one goes from north to south, the accumulation estimates needed to meet warning crit ...
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Blizzard
A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow is not falling but loose snow on the ground is lifted and blown by strong winds. Blizzards can have an immense size and usually stretch to hundreds or thousands of kilometres. Definition and etymology In the United States, the National Weather Service defines a blizzard as a severe snow storm characterized by strong winds causing blowing snow that results in low visibilities. The difference between a blizzard and a snowstorm is the strength of the wind, not the amount of snow. To be a blizzard, a snow storm must have sustained winds or frequent gusts that are greater than or equal to with blowing or drifting snow which reduces visibility to or less and must last for a prolonged period of time—typically three hours or more. Environment Canada defin ...
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