The Canadian Hurricane Centre (CHC; ) is an organisation that monitors and warns of the threat of

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

s such as

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

s and

tropical storm A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its lo ...

s. CHC is a division of the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC), which is in turn a branch of Environment and Climate Change Canada. Founded in 1987, CHC provides guidance to MSC's weather centres in eastern and

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (), is the list of regions of Canada, region of Eastern Canada comprising four provinces: New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. As of 2021, the landma ...

, and is based in

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Dartmouth ( ) (Scottish Gaelic, Scottish-Gaelic: Baile nan Loch) is a Urban area, built-up community of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada. Located on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour, Dartmouth has 101 ...

. CHC frequently consults with its

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

counterpart, the

National Hurricane Center The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the IERS Reference Meridian, Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian ...

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 Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC; )Environment and Climate Change Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of the Environment (). is the Ministry (government department), department ...

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 warnings were issued in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

for Hurricane Kyle, which struck near

Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Yarmouth is a port town located on the Bay of Fundy in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. Yarmouth is the shire town of Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, Yarmouth County and is the largest population centre in the region. History Originally inhab ...

on September 28, 2008, and quickly became extratropical while maintaining much of its strength into New Brunswick and

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

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 ...

), 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.

. Retrieved on 2009-02-16.

Frequency

While

hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

are relatively uncommon in Canada, they do approach or strike from time to time. Recent occurrences include: * Hurricane Bob, which struck Campobello Island,

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, in 1991. * Hurricane Luis, which struck

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

in September 1995. * Hurricane Hortense, which struck

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

in September 1996. * Hurricane Michael, which struck Newfoundland in October 2000. * Hurricane Juan, which struck Nova Scotia in September 2003. * Hurricane Igor, which struck Newfoundland in September 2010. *

Hurricane Dorian Hurricane Dorian was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone, which became the most intense on record to strike The Bahamas. It is tied with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane for the strongest landfall in the Atlantic basin in term ...

, which struck Nova Scotia in September 2019. * Hurricane Larry, which struck Newfoundland in September 2021. * Hurricane Fiona which struck Nova Scotia in September 2022. * Hurricane Lee, which struck Nova Scotia in September 2023. 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 it struck the United States near the border between North and Sou ...

which hit

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

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 Federal government buildings in Nova Scotia

History

Duties

Frequency

See also

References

External links