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In-depth

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À la carte: Nova Scotia’s treacherous waters | Lights in the darkness | Wherefore the weather in Nova Scotia? | Preserving our shipwreck heritage | Shipwreck diving — The thrill of discovery | Advances in navigational technology | From the CG Archives

Located in one of the most variable weather regions in Canada, Nova Scotians often joke that if you don’t like the weather, just wait 10 minutes and it’ll change. It’s one thing to utter these words on land, but the wild and unpredictable conditions are no laughing matter for sailors. Combining meteorological extremes with the province’s proximity to major ocean currents, Nova Scotia’s coastline has been a navigational nightmare, claiming thousands of ships and lives.

Environment Canada estimates that Nova Scotia has more storms than any other part of Canada, often influenced by severe weather passing over the Atlantic Ocean. In late summer and early fall, the region can be hit by the tail ends of both hurricanes and tropical storms as they spiral up the east coast of North America. Winds can exceed 150 km/h and bring with them heavy rains and wave heights as high as 14 metres, wreaking havoc on land and sea. Winter brings ice storms and blizzards, reducing visibility and causing damage.

Throughout the year, several ocean currents — such as the warm Gulf Stream and the cold Labrador Current — collide and mix offshore, creating the pea-soup fog that makes navigating the coast even more difficult. Sable Island, a small sandbar that pops up out of the ocean just south of Nova Scotia, sits smack in the centre of some of the mixing currents and storms. One of the foggiest places in the Maritimes, it averages 127 days a year with fog, mostly in the otherwise more pleasant summer months. The island is particularly treacherous for passing ships since strong winds, waves, sea swells and currents constantly reshape it, pulling dangerous sandbars in different directions and earning Sable Island the nickname of "Graveyard of the Atlantic."

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