Ottawa has more weather alerts than before — and more than other cities

The number of weather alerts for Ottawa in recent years has more than doubled since 2012, according to data from Environment Canada. 

Last year there were 66 warnings and advisories issued by the agency for potential problems such as severe thunderstorms, heat and winter storms, just ahead of the 65 in 2022.

That averages out to an alert every five or six days and included multiple tornadoes, wildfire smoke and flash flooding.

Ten years earlier, there were 29 weather alerts in 2012.

Environment Canada shared data ranking 23 areas across the country according to the number of warnings and weather advisories issued. Advisories can include events such as blowing snow, fog or frost.

The alerts do not include marine alerts, air quality messages, watches or special weather statements. 

Based on the table, 2023 is the second year in a row that Ottawa has had more of these alerts than any other ranked area. The next highest cities were Windsor with 57 weather alerts, Toronto with 52 and Sudbury with 48. 

The agency said it is important to note that more alerts do not necessarily mean an increase in severe weather because advisories may not have the widespread effects that warnings do.

"There's no real way to tell in these numbers what the breakdown was between weather advisories and weather warnings," said Geoff Coulson, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada.

Coulson added that changes to the criteria needed for weather to require an alert has shifted over the years, which could impact the number of alerts.

Environment Canada also said it continuously evaluates alert criteria to make sure they are reserved for serious and rare weather events.

Weather alerts impact community events

Alerts and other messaging from Environment Canada do affect community events and people's choices about comfort and safety.

According to Tracey Hayes, the advertising director for this weekend's Navan Fair, guests were already considering changing their plans to attend when a special weather statement about late-week rain went out on Wednesday. It was upgraded to a rainfall warning the following day.

"Sometimes just the threat of rain will keep people away," she said, adding that organizers were already receiving calls from worried guests after that statement was issued. 

She said the fair monitors alerts from Environment Canada to take any necessary precautions and does what it can to avoid having to cancel. 

Similarly, Wesley Clover Parks has seen a trend in guests cancelling camping reservations when a weather alert goes out, according to office manager Kathryn Hull.

She said poor air quality last spring and summer, particularly in June, caused many guests to cancel or shorten their stay.

"That really did affect us strongly at the campground where we noticed a lot of guests were calling, if they were from outside the Ottawa area, asking what our quality of air was like," she said.

Hull said she hopes the public does not become desensitized to them and continues to take alerts seriously.

"I think, unfortunately, there could be a trend where certain alerts are dismissed a little more than others," she said.

"Hopefully we'll continue to take them seriously and prepare as seriously as we did initially."