The Canadian Hurricane Centre (CHC; french: Centre canadien de prévision des ouragans) is an organisation that monitors and warns of the threat of

tropical cyclone 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. Depen ...

s such as

hurricane 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. Depend ...

s and

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. Dependi ...

s. CHC is a division of the

Meteorological Service of Canada The Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC; french: Service météorologique du Canada – SMC) is a division of Environment and Climate Change Canada, which primarily provides public meteorological information and weather forecasts and warnings o ...

, which is in turn an agency of Environment Canada. Founded in 1987, CHC provides guidance to MSC's weather centres in eastern and Atlantic Canada, and is based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. CHC frequently consults with its

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

counterpart, the National Hurricane Center in Miami, to coordinate the tracks and positions of storms that pose a threat to Canada.

History

1985's Hurricane Gloria and its less-than-expected damage prompted Environment Canada to create the CHC due to confusion between information received from the US National Hurricane Centre and US media and on-the-ground information and observations. Its first

hurricane warning Tropical cyclone warnings and watches are alerts issued by national weather forecasting bodies to coastal areas threatened by the imminent approach of a tropical cyclone of tropical storm or hurricane intensity. They are notices to the local popul ...

s were issued in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

for Hurricane Kyle, which struck near

Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Yarmouth is a town in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. A port town, industries include fishing, and tourism. It is the terminus of a ferry service to Bar Harbor, Maine, run by Bay Ferries. History Originally inhabited by the Mi'kmaq, the regi ...

on September 28, 2008, and quickly became

extratropical Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of p ...

while maintaining much of its strength into New Brunswick and

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

Duties

The organization gathers information on tropical and post-tropical cyclones (systems in the process of becoming

extratropical cyclones Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of ...

), predicts their evolution and assesses their potential impact on Canada. Their area of responsibility is bound by the Canada-United States border and extends into waters offshore Canada to . Like other hurricane centres, the Canadian Hurricane Centre makes presentations about tropical cyclones to schools, businesses, the media, and other governmental agencies. They also coordinate with the public concerning additional queries about hurricanes in Canada.Canadian Hurricane Centre (2004)
Canadian Hurricane Centre's Responsibilities.
Environment Canada. Retrieved on 2009-02-16.

Frequency

While

hurricanes 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. Depend ...

are relatively uncommon in Canada, they do approach or strike from time to time. Recent occurrences include: *

Hurricane Bob Hurricane Bob was one of the costliest hurricanes in New England history. The second named storm and first hurricane of the 1991 Atlantic hurricane season, Bob developed from an area of low pressure near The Bahamas on August 16. The depressi ...

, which struck

Campobello Island Campobello Island (, also ) is the largest and only inhabited island in Campobello, a civil parish in southwestern New Brunswick, Canada, near the border with Maine, United States. The island's permanent population in 2021 was 949. It is the s ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, in 1991. * Hurricane Luis which struck Newfoundland in September 1995. *

Hurricane Hortense Hurricane Hortense was the first tropical cyclone to make landfall in Guadeloupe and Puerto Rico since Hurricane Hugo in 1989, and the second most intense hurricane during the 1996 Atlantic hurricane season. The eighth tropical cyclone, eighth n ...

which struck

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

in September 1996. *

Hurricane Michael Hurricane Michael was a very powerful and destructive tropical cyclone that became the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous United States since Andrew in 1992. It was the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane to m ...

, which struck Newfoundland in October 2000. *

Hurricane Juan 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. Depend ...

, which struck Nova Scotia in September 2003. *

Hurricane Igor Hurricane Igor was a very large Cape Verde hurricane and the most destructive tropical cyclone on record to strike the Canadian island of Newfoundland. It originated from a broad area of low pressure that moved off the western coast of Africa on ...

, which struck Newfoundland in September 2010. *

Hurricane Larry Hurricane Larry was a strong and long-lived Cape Verde hurricane that became the first hurricane to make landfall in Newfoundland since Igor in 2010. The twelfth named storm, fifth hurricane, and third major hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic hurrica ...

, which struck Newfoundland in September 2021. *

Hurricane Fiona Hurricane Fiona was a large, powerful, and destructive Category 4 Atlantic hurricane which was the costliest and most intense tropical or post-tropical cyclone to hit Canada on record. The sixth named storm, third hurricane and first major hur ...

which struck Nova Scotia in September 2022. Also of note due to its rarity and the damage caused is

Hurricane Hazel Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest, second costliest, and most intense hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm killed at least 469 people in Haiti before striking the United States near the border between North and Sout ...

which hit

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

in 1954, and remained a strong storm even after crossing over the U.S. East Coast.

References

External links

*
Official open data services for Canadian hurricane forecast data
{{Authority control Meteorological Service of Canada 1987 establishments in Nova Scotia Government agencies established in 1987

History

Duties

Frequency

See also

References

External links