Hurricane Juan
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- This article is about the 2003 hurricane; there was also a Hurricane Juan during the 1985 Atlantic hurricane season.
Hurricane Juan was a Category 2 hurricane that made landfall at Prospect, Nova Scotia, 30 km southwest of Halifax at 12:10 a.m. ADT, Monday September 29, 2003.
Juan caused widespread damage in central Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Juan claimed more lives (at least 8) in Atlantic Canada than any other extreme weather event since the Escuminac Disaster killed 35 fishermen in the southwestern Gulf of St. Lawrence on June 20 1959.
Juan was the first hurricane of significant strength since 1893 (when a Category 3 hurricane - one of only two to ever hit Canada - made landfall at St. Margaret's Bay) to pass over the city of Halifax, although Halifax did receive a near-direct hit from a weaker Hurricane Edna on September 11, 1954.
Hurricane Juan's maximum sustained wind speed was 159 km/h (100 mph) with gusts up to 231 km/h (145 mph). Wave-rider weather buoys off the entrance of Halifax harbour snapped their moorings after reportedly recording waves in excess of 20 metres (65 feet). Significant erosion occurred on the populated shores of the harbour, particularly in the Bedford Basin where residential properties and railway tracks bore the brunt of wave action. Some forecasters actually believed it was a Category 3 hurricane due to the damage it caused, however the sustained wind reports did not justify that suggestion.
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Upon making landfall in Nova Scotia, the storm moved extremely quickly to the north and by noon local time was well north of Prince Edward Island, having been downgraded to a tropical storm and then a tropical depression by the time it left the latter province. In its wake, Juan left more than 300,000 people without power in both provinces. It took up to a week and a half to restore power to the hardest hit rural areas of Nova Scotia. Voting in the PEI general election on September 29, 2003 was also disrupted but more than 80% of voters made it to polling stations.
70% of the trees in Halifax's Point Pleasant Park were destroyed, fundamentally changing the character of the large urban park. The Halifax Public Gardens were also badly damaged.
The name Juan was retired in April 2004 and will be replaced by Joaquin in 2009. It was the first time that Environment Canada had requested for a hurricane name to be retired on its own (partly because most hurricanes that hit Canada had already caused significant devastation elsewhere, usually the US East Coast).
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See also
External links
- National Hurricane Center Tropical Cyclone Report - Hurricane Juan (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2003juan.shtml)
- Environment Canada's Juan Information Page (http://www.ns.ec.gc.ca/weather/hurricane/juan/)
- CTV Hurricane Juan retrospective story (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1096404767450_91813967/?hub=TopStories)