2023-08-19 04:00:00
Huge forest fires, record showers, violent weather… The summer of 2023 in Quebec was one of extremes with a drought causing devastating fires in the forest and endless precipitation in the south.
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Summer kicked off with hot, dry temperatures that created fertile ground for wildfires. These fires, of an unprecedented proportion, held Quebec in suspense, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people and still occupying the SOPFEU teams.
“There are some that have come close, like Clova, Lebel-sur-Quévillon, Normétal,” says Stéphane Caron, prevention and communications coordinator at SOPFEU
“We are talking about 5.25 million hectares burned […] since the beginning of the year, which is comparable to the area of Costa Rica,” said meteorologist Nicolas Lessard of MétéoMédia.
These fires in northern Quebec have also undermined air quality, making Montreal one of the worst cities in the world. “It’s unheard of in terms of intensity and frequency of the phenomenon,” says Simon Legault, of Environment Canada.
• Read also: Forest fires in Quebec: an area larger than Costa Rica reduced to ashes… and still burning
Then, a stubborn regime of meteorological instability quickly settled in southern Quebec, darkening the holidays of many Quebecers and shattering several old precipitation records.
In Sherbrooke alone, twice as much rain as normal has fallen since June 1. “It’s completely crazy,” exclaims Mr. Lessard.
All this rain has spoiled many summer activities. In Montreal, for example, the tennis omnium schedule got complicated several times. In Quebec, the popular FEQ also suffered a few cold showers and indoor activities were popular.
“It hurts business and morale, but it only happens about every 15 years, a summer of mud like that!” exclaims Yves Gingras, co-owner of the Domaine du Rêve campsite in Sainte-Angèle-de-Monnoir in Montérégie, a complex of 800 sites.
Courtesy
rain and lightning
“Virtually all Quebec cities have seen precipitation anomalies,” continues meteorologist Nicolas Lessard.
As if this whole fleet wasn’t enough to play spoilsport, it also dragged with it a time of rare violence.
Lightning struck Québec territory every day, without exception, in July and the first half of August.
Five tornadoes were also identified, which is quite usual, says Mr. Lessard.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY NICOLETA COCA ALEXE
Marine heat wave
How to explain all this rain? “Atlantic water is abnormally warm, both in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Canadian Maritimes,” reveals the MétéoMédia meteorologist.
This “sea heat wave” gave more energy to the atmosphere, and therefore, a greater potential for showers.
“In terms of the weather outside, it’s not [le type] summer where we were able to make the most of, for example, our swimming pools or the beach”, summarizes Mr. Lessard.
If the holidays of many Quebecers have been ruined by the vagaries of the weather, the consequences for farmers have been catastrophic.
In the completely flooded fields, where the crops have been drowned, market gardeners report almost total losses.
• Read also: “This is the worst season in 18 years, lament the market gardeners of Quebec
In addition to taking place under the fleet, the construction holiday was also particularly deadly on the roads. A sad record that highlights the importance of remaining vigilant during our travels.
– With the collaboration of Olivier Faucher, Marianne Langlois, Frédérique Giguère and Louis-Philippe Messier
Lots and lots of rain!
Campsites at the mercy of Mother Nature
After being scalded by two floods at its Charlevoix site in May and July, the Camping Union group gave up on an expansion project near another flood-prone river.
“We had an accepted purchase offer on it and everything, but at some point we said… we’re going to review our way of investing in the coming years to shelter ourselves a little from climate change” , says Jean-Sébastien Rioux, general manager of the network, which has eight campsites in the province.
• Read also: A “summer of mud”: the camping season ruined by the abundant rain
Camping du Gouffre, located in Baie-Saint-Paul, suffered damage of approximately $300,000. In addition, four chalets that were destroyed will be replaced by small chalets on wheels that can be moved in the event of flooding.
“We have to adapt.”
If the torrential rains have sharpened the patience of the campers, Mr. Rioux says he was amazed by their resilience. He did not see a noticeable uptick in cancellations.
“Management ordeal”
In the Laurentians, the manager of Camping Lac Lafontaine, meanwhile, talks about a cancellation rate of 10 to 15%, which he attributes to poor weather.
“When our phones start ringing [pour une] tornado alert, it’s not very selling,” says Patrick Ouellette ironically.
“It was a management ordeal this year, I won’t hide it from you,” he says, explaining that he had to close the pool several times, in addition to moving activities inside.
The grayness cools the swimmers
This is not a year that will go down in history in water parks.
“In terms of the weather, we agree, it was a very capricious summer in the province of Quebec. […]. In terms of results, in general, we can see that there is a slight drop,” says Christian Dufour, spokesperson for the Regroupement des parcs aquatics du Québec and marketing director at the Sommet Saint-Sauveur water park.
However, he relativizes: “It could have been much worse […]. We have seen others like this. It’s not the last we’re going to see like this, then we adapt.”
He regrets, however, that some beautiful summer days have been lost, due to erroneous or misinterpreted weather forecasts which are driving away customers.
“We are extremely quiet on a day when we should have been full. It’s these days that ultimately hurt a lot, ”he says.
The rain plays spoilsport in Saguenay
In Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, which was well watered like many other regions of Quebec, the rain played the spoilsports at the Festival of World Rhythms.
“It was a fairly rainy and humid edition, summed up Marie-Josée Gravel, of Productions Hakim. We had quite committed festival-goers who went to the site despite the rain, but indeed, there was a drop in traffic because of the temperature.
The event had possibly the worst attendance in 21 years.
But if outdoor activities have suffered, it is quite the opposite for indoor leisure. The impact was immediate for Escaparium Saguenay, which offers escape games and fluorescent minigolf.
“We’ve had a lot of rain in the last few weeks; in addition, it was the holidays of the construction, so it is sure that all that really brings a lot of people, ”says the manager, Catherine Allard.
– With QMI Agency
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