Wildfires, drought and hurricanes top Canada’s top weather stories of 2025
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Environment and Climate Change Canada’s list of the top 10 weather stories of the year covers the country from coast to coast to coast.
Federal department is releasing the list since 1996Typically highlights extreme weather events affecting Canadians. The 2025 list released on Thursday lists the events in no particular order.
“This year it was everything,” Jennifer Smith, national alert preparedness meteorologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada, said during a media conference.
But in the list’s 30-year history, Smith said, “one thing hasn’t changed: the resilience of Canadians.”
One story on this year’s list was Canada’s second-deadliest wildfire season on record. More than 8.9 million hectares of land will burn in 2025. It follows the deadly and tragic wildfires of 2023 that burned 16.1 million hectares of land.
During the 2025 wildfire season, more than 75,000 people were forced to leave their homes. Of those people, nearly three out of every five were from First Nations communities.
Those most affected were in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where massive wildfires not only spread, but also dissipated. almost nowHere Canada was saved from smoke.
canadian drought
What also contributed to these wildfires was the drought that was felt throughout the country. By the end of September, Canadian Drought Monitor It was reported that 85 percent of Canada was experiencing abnormally dry conditions or drought. This included about 76 percent of the country’s agricultural land.
Great fires, monstrous storms and epic floods. But there were also some climate bright spots in 2025. CBC meteorologists Ryan Snowdon and Johanna Wagstaff join What on Earth host Laura Lynch to explain how human-caused climate change affected this year’s weather. »»» Listen to the full What on Earth episode here: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-429-what-on-earth/clip/16186078-our-forecasters-look-back-year-weather-climate What on Earth features new podcast episodes every Wednesday and Saturday. You can find them on your favorite podcast app or on demand on CBC Listen. The radio show airs Sunday mornings at 11:30 a.m. in Newfoundland and Labrador.
This is nothing new for people in the West, especially in British Columbia, where a drought that began in 2021 has worsened.
But Ontario also experienced drought conditions over the summer, especially in Eastern Ontario. Boats got stuck in the St. Lawrence River due to falling water levels. The apple picking season and pumpkin season were affected.
With Halloween only six weeks away, those looking for a giant pumpkin this season may be out of luck. CBC’s Ilka Sweeting-Rodgers has more.
End of summer? hold on a sec …
Just when it seemed summer was coming to an end in August, Western Canada was in for a surprise.
In late August and early September, temperatures soared in BC. From August 22 to September 8, more than 200 daily maximum temperature records were set in the province.
In Lytton, BC – the town that was devastated by wildfires in 2021 and where a national temperature record was set that same year – temperatures reached 40 C or higher on consecutive days from August 24-27.
But it was Ashcroft who set a new record for not only the province but also the country in September, when the mercury reached 40.8 Celsius on September 3.
tuktoyaktuk flood
In late August, Tuktoyaktuk, NWT, experienced an intense flooding event as a powerful low pressure system descended upon the coastal community.
On August 30, the system formed from the Beaufort Sea moved eastward, bringing high winds and heavy rainfall to several communities in the area.
Strong winds of 70 km/h or more lasted for about six hours in Tuktoyaktuk. And those winds caused storm surge, at one point 2.62 metres, the highest ever recorded in the village.
These are some of the top 10 stories. For more information – including the devastating Prairie summer storm, ice storms in central and eastern Canada and an ice storm that paralyzed parts of Ontario – you can visit Environment and Climate Change Canada. website,
