Environment Canada’s Senior Climatologist says the record year for wildfires produced the top weather story in 2023.

And for all those who did not see the fires, but smelled them, David Phillips says the smoky conditions was his number two story of the year.  Phillips says 2023 will also be remembered for the brutally cold months of March and April that were immediately followed by the start of an early, hot summer.

Phillips says the period from May through September was the hottest summer on earth and in Canada.

List of top ten weather stories in Canada:

1. Record wildfires
2. Canada cloaked in smoke
3. Hottest Summer – on Earth and in Canada
4. Deadly deluge in Nova Scotia
5. Canada dry in the West and wet in the East
6. Hurricane Lee… no Fiona but more than a windy day
7. April glaze storm in Montréal-Ottawa – more beast than beauty
8. Cold spells in a warm year
9. Flooded out: Québec’s Record Wet July
10. Canada Day tornado in Alberta