In 2013 the Canadian Hurricane Centre (CHC) issued 32 hurricane information bulletins on two tropical cyclones.
The two main events for the season were:
- Tropical Storm Andrea which merged with a frontal system as it approached Atlantic Canada on June 8th, causing heavy rain as it tracked across Nova Scotia and Newfoundland; and
- Tropical Storm Gabrielle which mostly dissipated as its remnants approached Nova Scotia, bringing heavy rainfall on September 13th.
In terms of the number of major hurricanes, 2013 was the quietest season since 1994. Below is a summary of the two notable events of tropical origin affecting Canada in 2013. The impacts of both were limited to minor flooding and motor vehicle accidents.
Tropical Storm Andrea formed from the remnants of Hurricane Barbara which had formed earlier and then weakened in the East Pacific Ocean. Andrea moved from the southern Gulf of Mexico and crossed Florida as a tropical storm with winds near 40 knots (or 75 km/h). Pockets of very heavy rain flooded parts of Florida as Andrea interacted with a frontal system. Heavy rain continued to fall along the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. as the system tracked northeastward on June 7th and 8th. By the time the remnants of Andrea reached Nova Scotia, the system had transformed into a typical low pressure system along a frontal zone. The final position for Andrea’s minimum pressure centre was just west of Nova Scotia, in the Gulf of Maine, while a separate low pressure centre formed over the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, to the east within the warm front. That low continued to move due-eastward and tracked south of Newfoundland and Labrador.
This weather system was not much different than any other heavy rain-producing low pressure system that may form during the spring. Winds were not high enough to cause damage. Due to local topographic effects, the strongest winds occurred over Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia and southwestern Newfoundland and Labrador. Gusts in these regions were between 115 and 130 km/h, which is not unusual.
Gabrielle formed in the Caribbean Sea on September 4th and moved north-northwestward bringing heavy rainfall to parts of the northern Caribbean before degenerating to a tropical depression. Several days passed before the remnants of the depression redeveloped south of Bermuda on September 9th. The system attained tropical storm status the next day and passed over Bermuda. Gabrielle then tracked northward and gradually weakened as it interacted with a cold front over the Eastern United States. Gabrielle entered CHC’s Response Zone as a tropical depression, but continued to produce bursts of deep cloud convection as it merged with the front. The depression/post-tropical low was barely discernible as it approached the Halifax area. It had completely dissipated just before reaching land, at which time most of the remaining rainfall was exiting Prince Edward Island to the north.
Like Andrea, this weather system was not much different than any other heavy rain-producing low pressure system. Only moderate wind gusts of 50 to 70 km/h occurred over eastern Nova Scotia and thus no damage was observed.
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