Wreckhouse is a geographic location in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador that is well known for extremely high winds.
Situated at the southern end of the Long Range Mountains at the western mouth of the Codroy Valley, the name originated because high winds - often well in excess of hurricane force - would occasionally blow railway cars on the narrow gauge trains operated by the Newfoundland Railway completely off the track. [1] The word "Wreckhouse" was added to the Canadian Oxford Dictionary in 2004. Although the railway was closed in 1988, the winds are still a hazard to vehicles on Highway 1 and transport trucks occasionally get blown off the road. [2] Winds have been measured over 200 km/h. [3]
Lockie MacDougall, a farmer and trapper, was born in 1896 and lived at Wreckhouse. He had a natural sixth sense to the changes in the weather and this ability allowed him to be employed by Robert Gillespie Reid, whose company built the Newfoundland Railway. MacDougall was paid 20 dollars a month and would inform the railway if it was safe for trains to pass, performing this task for thirty years until his death in 1965. His wife, Emily, continued on with the task until she moved away from the area in 1972. You could see Lockie's face painted in a mural on the side of local pizza establishment, Louis Gees in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, however the mural was covered up in the late 2010s due to it being significantly damaged.
An anemometer operated by the Meteorological Service of Canada currently provides remote wind data for the Newfoundland and Labrador weather office in Gander which distributes warnings to travellers should the speed be sufficient. The term Wreckhouse Winds is used by the MSC to specifically refer to dangerous wind conditions in this geographic area. [4]
Wreckhouse also provides inspiration for Wreckhouse Jazz & Blues, [5] producers of the Wreckhouse International Jazz & Blues Festival. [6]
Canada, the world's second-largest country in total area, is dedicated to having an efficient, high-capacity multimodal transportation spanning often vast distances between natural resource extraction sites, agricultural and urban areas. Canada's transportation system includes more than 1,400,000 kilometres (870,000 mi) of roads, 10 major international airports, 300 smaller airports, 72,093 km (44,797 mi) of functioning railway track, and more than 300 commercial ports and harbours that provide access to the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans as well as the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. In 2005, the transportation sector made up 4.2% of Canada's GDP, compared to 3.7% for Canada's mining and oil and gas extraction industries.
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of 405,212 square kilometres. In 2023, the population of Newfoundland and Labrador was estimated to be 533,710. The island of Newfoundland is home to around 94 per cent of the province's population, with more than half residing in the Avalon Peninsula. Labrador borders the province of Quebec, and the French overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon lies about 20 km (12 mi) west of the Burin Peninsula.
Labrador is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its population. It is separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle. It is the largest and northernmost geographical region in the four Atlantic provinces.
The Meteorological Service of Canada is a branch of Environment and Climate Change Canada, which primarily provides public meteorological information and weather forecasts and warnings of severe weather and other environmental hazards. MSC also monitors and conducts research on the climate, atmospheric science, air quality, water quantities, ice and other environmental issues. MSC operates a network of radio stations throughout Canada transmitting weather and environmental information 24 hours a day called Weatheradio Canada.
The Strait of Belle Isle is a waterway in eastern Canada that separates the Labrador Peninsula from the island of Newfoundland, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
A Foehn or Föhn, is a type of dry, relatively warm, downslope wind that occurs in the lee of a mountain range. It is a rain shadow wind that results from the subsequent adiabatic warming of air that has dropped most of its moisture on windward slopes. As a consequence of the different adiabatic lapse rates of moist and dry air, the air on the leeward slopes becomes warmer than equivalent elevations on the windward slopes.
Avondale is a town located on Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, which was incorporated in 1974. The community is situated at the southwestern head of Conception Bay in Division 1. It is located 59 km (37 mi) southwest of St. John's and 72 km (45 mi) northeast of Placentia.
Channel-Port aux Basques is a town at the extreme southwestern tip of Newfoundland fronting on the western end of the Cabot Strait. A Marine Atlantic ferry terminal is located in the town which is the primary entry point onto the island of Newfoundland and the western terminus of the Newfoundland and Labrador Route 1 in the province. The town was incorporated in 1945 and its population in the 2021 census was 3,547.
The Newfoundland Railway was a narrow-gauge railway that operated on the island of Newfoundland from 1898 to 1988. With a total track length of 906 miles (1,458 km), it was the longest 3 ft 6 in narrow-gauge system in North America.
The Newfoundland–Labrador fixed link is any of various proposals for constructing a fixed link consisting of a combination of bridges, tunnels, or causeways across the Strait of Belle Isle, connecting the province of Newfoundland and Labrador's mainland Labrador region with the island of Newfoundland. This strait has a minimum width of 17.4 km.
Victoria is an incorporated town in Conception Bay located approximately midway on the Bay de Verde Peninsula of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
Buchans is a town located in the central part of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is situated on the northwest shore of Beothuk Lake on the Buchans River.
This article describes severe weather terminology used by the Meteorological Service of Canada, a branch within Environment and Climate Change Canada. The article primarily describes various weather warnings, and their criteria. Related weather scales and general weather terms are also addressed in this article. Some terms are specific to certain regions.
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province in Canada. The Strait of Belle Isle separates the province into two geographical regions, Labrador and the island of Newfoundland. The province also includes over seven thousand small islands.
The Bonavista Peninsula is a large peninsula on the east coast of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It consists of 50 incorporated towns/unincorporated communities which have a population of 12,176 as of the 2016 Canadian Census. Bonavista is the largest population centre on the peninsula.
The Codroy Valley is a valley in the southwestern part of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Codroy is a community in the Codroy Valley of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Newfoundland and Labrador.
In mid-January 2020, a complex system of winter storms that crossed North America, bringing heavy snowfall and high winds to Atlantic Canada and the northern United States between 15 and 18 January. At least one person was killed, in California, while at least one went missing, in Newfoundland. The person who went missing in Newfoundland was later found dead. Another two people died in Newfoundland after shoveling snow, although the connection to the storm is unclear. The winter storm caused historic blizzard conditions in many areas, particularly Atlantic Canada.
47°43′36″N59°18′06″W / 47.72667°N 59.30167°W