A look back at other historic storms

The Farmers’ Almanac didn’t forecast the Feb. 15 storm.

In fact, for Feb.

11–18,

the

Mar- itimes were supposed to get rain and snow showers.

Ironically, this week fits with Nova Scotia’s tradition of big storms. The biggest storm in the year of snow, in 1905, hit Feb. 16. In 2004, White Juan hit hardest on Feb. 19.

Forecasters called it an old-fashioned nor’easter, but Maritimers dubbed it White Juan in recognition of the hurricane that struck Nova Scotia five months earlier. During White Juan, snow fell at the rate of five centimeters per hour for 12 hours.

With the heavy snow, Environment Canada weather historians chronicled fierce winds gusting to 124 km/h and zero visibility. Halifax, Yarmouth and Charlottetown broke all-time 24-hour snowfall records.

For Halifax, the 88.5 cm of snow on Feb. 19, 2004 nearly doubled its previous record for a single day. For the first time in history, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island declared province- wide states of emergency lasting four days.

Halifax issued a nightly nine-hour curfew over three days for all but essential workers in order to give them a fighting chance to clear the snow - estimated to weigh six million tons. Many school districts had a record number of snow days in 2004. Miraculously, there were no serious injuries or deaths, just a million unforgettable stories.

In Kentville, the average snowfall for an entire year is 263 centimetres.