Week 10 Country of our choice.

Jaskiart Jessica Bhardwaj

Geology 9

Professor Garcia

4/1/2018

Canada and it's Extreme Weather

This week we are leaning about extreme weather, and we are allowed to write our blogs and our research on any country that we would like. I went to Montreal, Canada last year in the summer with my sister, and I experienced some weird events, some events that are foreign to us as Californians. On our last day of our trip, it was a sunny day out, only 15 minutes later there were heavy clouds that crept into the skies, about five minutes later it started pouring so hard that doors were blown open, rain water was coming into the house, the electricity went out, there was even thunder and lightening. Then about another ten- fifteen minutes later it was sunny out again. This all happened in less than an hour! It was a crazy experience, an experience that I will never forget in my life. That is why I want to write my blog today on Canada and it's extreme weather. Here is also a link to a mini snippet that I took of the rainfall that day.

When one thinks about Canada, the first thought that comes to mind is, "that place where it snows a lot, the frozen land." Well at least that's what comes to my mind when I think about Canada. Canadian weather in reality though it very diverse and all over the place. It is not just a country that experiences below zero temperatures but it also experiences severe heat flashes during the summer, and Canada also experiences severe rainfall. Crazy temperatures aren't the only things that happen in Canada. Canada also has experienced things like tornados and sinkholes!

Annually freezing rain averages are about twenty to thirty-five hours up to fifty to seventy hours. As for intense snow storms the worst 20th century storm happened back in January of 1998 where damages totaled up to a whopping $1 billion dollars!! Did you know that Canada has the worlds largest average daily of -5.6 C? Yeah neither did I! Pretty interesting though, huh.

Another, extreme thing that Canada experiences is it's heat waves. When my sister and I went to Montreal in the summer, we did not expect it to be as hot as it actually was. Everyday the temperatures were over 80 degrees F. Oh and the humidity was awful! But the longest and deadliest heat wave that happened in Canada was a very long time ago, back in July 5-17 of 1936. The temperatures went over 44 Celsius which is 111.2 degrees in Fahrenheit! Thank God, temperatures did not rise that high when I was there.

Now, I would like to even mention a few things about Canada and the deadliest tornado that it experienced! This tornado also was ages ago but the facts behind it are interesting. Back in June of 1912, a tornado killed 40 people, injured 300 people and ruined hundreds of buildings, and it only lasted a surprising 3 minutes!

Canada also has seen sinkholes in its time. One of the biggest sinkholes that happened was in May of 1971, where heavy rain fall opened up a 600m wide and 30m deep, sinkhole! Goes to show that Canada isn't just about its wild temperatures but it also experiences other natural disasters also.

Canada experiences a lot of natural hazards that can cause a lot of damage and casualties. That is why Canada has to do a lot in order to minimize damage and mitigate disasters. Canada has national disaster mitigation strategies set in place. What these strategies do is that, it understands what the problem is, then there is leadership and coordination figured out, then there is public awareness and then there is education and outreach to the public. It is really important that the public is aware of how to avoid or be safe during a disaster.

Thank you,
Jessica

Sources:

“Extreme Weather in Canada.” 

The Canadian Encyclopedia, 16 Dec. 2016, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/m/article/extreme-weather-in-canada-feature/.