White Juan was one of the East Coast’s worst blizzards
The 2004 storm brought Halifax its largest one-day snowfall total on record
Every generation has a snowstorm that indelibly etches itself into the minds of those who experienced the ordeal.
‘White Juan’ was that storm for hundreds of thousands of people across the Maritimes.
The storm produced Halifax’s all-time single day snowfall, shutting the region down for days while crews tried to deal with streets clogged with a truly mammoth amount of snowfall.
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Nova Scotia had a rough spell of weather between the end of 2003 and beginning of 2004.
Hurricane Juan slammed the province on Sept. 28, 2003, as a Category 2 with 160 km/h winds. The storm’s intense winds and destructive storm surge killed eight people and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
Another historic storm would roll through the region just a few months later with record-breaking snowfall totals. Given its impact on a region still reeling from the hurricane, residents wound up nicknaming this blizzard White Juan.
A powerful low-pressure system developed off the North Carolina coast on Feb. 17, 2004, and made a beeline for the Maritimes. Snow began falling in Halifax at 5:00 p.m. the following day, steadily increasing in intensity through the overnight hours.
Halifax Airport reported blizzard conditions for 16 consecutive hours between 4:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Feb. 19.
The storm was so intense that it produced snowfall rates greater than 5 cm per hour, along with reports of widespread thunder and lightning.
Most of Nova Scotia wound up buried beneath more than half a metre of snow by the time the storm moved out of the region.
Halifax Airport officially reported 66 cm of snow, which still stands today as the greatest one-day snowfall total ever recorded there. Heavier totals fell closer to the coast, with 95 cm reported in Halifax proper and a whopping 101 cm measured down in Yarmouth.
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The effects didn’t stop in Nova Scotia. White Juan also produced the greatest one-day snowfall total ever recorded across the Strait at Charlottetown Airport with 74 cm on the books there. Moncton residents were tasked with digging out from 61 cm of snow.
How does that stack up against other major Canadian cities?
Halifax and Charlottetown’s one-day snowfall records set during White Juan were greater than just about every major city across the country, both a testament to the power of this particular storm and the unique nature of big-time snows along the East Coast.