The U.S. National Hurricane Center’s forecast cone for the storm centre of Hurricane Lee, issued at 2 p.m. AT on Sept. 15, 2023. (NHC/USA Today Network via Reuters)

Hurricane Lee churns toward New England, Eastern Canada

Nova Scotia may see storm surge up to three feet

Reuters — Hurricane Lee barreled across the North Atlantic toward New England and Eastern Canada on Friday, threatening to bring drenching rains, powerful winds and a life-threatening storm surge to the region over the weekend. Lee is expected to weaken into a strong tropical storm before making landfall in southwestern Nova Scotia as a strong […] Read more

Water flows through a washed-out culvert on the CN rail mainline at Truro, N.S. on July 23, 2023. (Photo: Nigel Gloade/Millbrook First Nations/Handout via Reuters)

Nova Scotia farmers granted late AgriStability entry

Enrolment for 2023 now an option until Dec. 31, 2024

Nova Scotia farmers who aren’t in on AgriStability for 2023 and whose operations were hit hard by weather events this spring and/or summer now have until the end of next year to enroll. The Nova Scotia and federal governments on Friday announced enrolment for the ag income stabilization program, which ended on April 30, has […] Read more

Wildlife conservation officers Devon Wadden and Tim Locke keep an eye on sheep while SPCA officers feed a flock during wildfire evacuations in Shelburne County, N.S. on June 3, 2023. (Photo: Communications Nova Scotia/Handout via Reuters)

Canada on track for worst-ever wildfire season

Unusual to see fires nationwide at one time

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada is on track for its worst-ever year of wildfire destruction as warm and dry conditions are forecast to persist through to the end of the summer after an unprecedented start to the fire season, officials said on Monday. Blazes are burning in nearly all Canadian provinces and territories, and federal […] Read more


(Stephen Ausmus photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

High-path avian flu pops back up in southern Ontario

Three outbreaks in Canadian poultry this month, plus skunks

Feather industry officials are calling for “extreme caution” among poultry farmers after cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza turned up at two southern Ontario properties in the past week. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it has confirmed cases of the virus detected last Friday in a backyard poultry flock in the municipality of Chatham-Kent, […] Read more

A composite satellite view of Hurricane Fiona nearing Nova Scotia at about 6 p.m. local time on Sept. 23, 2022. (U.S. National Hurricane Center image, NOAA.gov)

Nova Scotia to bridge Fiona funding gap for farmers

Provincial program offering up to $400K per farm

Nova Scotia farmers who didn’t qualify for federal disaster financial assistance (DFA) in the wake of Hurricane Fiona last September may be able to get in on a new provincial program instead. The province on Thursday announced $3 million for what it calls the Fiona Agriculture Response Gap Funding program, offering up to $400,000 for […] Read more

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau views damage to lobster boats from Hurricane Fiona at Stanley Bridge, P.E.I. on Sept. 27, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Phil Matusiewicz)

Trudeau tours storm-hit Atlantic Canada as power outages persist

Flooding may hit P.E.I. potato crops

Port aux Basques, N.L. | Reuters — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday started a tour of Atlantic Canada, where thousands were still without power after record-setting storm Fiona ravaged the country’s east coast, tossing homes into the sea and killing at least three people. Fiona recorded the lowest barometric pressure ever for a storm […] Read more


RCMP officers near a building destroyed by Hurricane Fiona at Port aux Basques, N.L. on Sept. 26, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/John Morris)

Fiona batters Eastern Canada’s farms, fishery

'You'll hear me swearing in Saskatchewan'

Winnipeg | Reuters — Powerful storm Fiona slammed into Canada’s eastern fishing and farm industries over the weekend, smashing wharves, food processing plants and barns that will take months to repair. One of the worst storms Canada has ever faced left more than one-third of customers in Nova Scotia without power, swept homes into the […] Read more

A composite satellite view of Hurricane Fiona nearing Nova Scotia at about 6 p.m. local time on Sept. 23, 2022. (U.S. National Hurricane Center image, NOAA.gov)

Fiona pounds Bermuda as Canada braces for major jolt

Up to eight inches of rain expected along path

Hamilton, Bermuda/Halifax, N.S. | Reuters — Hurricane Fiona pounded the Atlantic island of Bermuda with heavy rain and winds on Friday as it tracked northward toward Eastern Canada, where it threatens to become one of the most severe storms in Canadian history. Fiona had already battered a series of Caribbean islands earlier in the week, […] Read more