Other Natural Hazards

Impact of Storms

Two main types of storms affect Atlantic Canada: the tropical cyclone and the extratropical cyclone. Tropical cyclones develop in southern latitudes in the warmer months of June to November. These storms can track northward along the eastern North American seaboard where they usually weaken, but from time to time they affect Atlantic Canada as hurricanes, tropical storms or post-tropical storms. Hurricane Hortense is an example of one storm which struck Nova Scotia in September 1996. Extratropical cyclones (ET's) develop in mid-northern latitudes and are most frequent and intense between October and March. Famous examples of this type of storm are the Groundhog Day storm of February 1976, the Halloween Storm of 1991 and the "Storm of the Century" in March 1993. A more recent storm of January 2000 is illustrated in this section.

Beaches are constantly changing shape and position in response to natural processes. During storm events they are forced to make larger scale morphological adjustments in order to absorb the dramatic increase in wave energy. Buildings, roads and other coastal infrastructure can also be impacted by waves and/or sea ice; high water levels and flooding; or structural damage caused by loss of shore substrate.