Too much is how Environment Canada's weather service describes 2017. “Between the few floods, the many wildfires and record dry temperatures, 2017 was a year of too much— too dry, too hot, too fiery, too wet, too cool, but not too cold.”That observation sets the tone for Environment Canada's top 10 weather stories of the past year. “Canadians had plenty to weather in 2017. Property damage from weather extremes cost Canadian insurers and governments millions of dollars. It was the eighth warmest period in 70 years of reporting weather, with temperatures averaging 1.4°C above normal. This year also marked the 21st consecutive year warmer than normal, matching the trend for the rest of the world.”British Columbia's wildfires was the Number. 1 story followed by a protracted dry spell across the Prairies. Spring flooding in Ontario and Quebec came in at No. 3, flooding Windsor-Essex County was No. 5 and the soggy summer across Central Canada was No. 6 while our incredible September was No. 8.“At the beginning of May, flood forecasters across Quebec and eastern Ontario were concerned. In the previous month, several major, slow-moving weather systems had soaked the region with record rains. Over half the snow pack, loaded with water, still needed to melt, and the 7-day forecast called for more showers falling on the partly frozen ground. Instantly, bloated rivers and streams overflowed, and sewers backed up. Several rivers exceeded the maximum amount water released in the past and overflowed from Gananoque to Gaspésie.“Both Ottawa and Montréal had their wettest spring in history–400 millimetres or more with records dating back to the 1870s,” it said.The flooding in the Windsor-Essex County area came less than a year after a record $153 million flood hit the same region caused by equally heavy rains and creating equally extensive damage.“Light rain began falling before noon on Aug. 28. It continued with heavier amounts in the early evening. Storms kept happening overnight. The next day intense thunderstorms re-occurred and remained stationary.In less than 48 hours, 222 mm of rain fell in southwest Windsor and 140 to 200 mm in Riverside-Tecumseh.”The nearby community of LaSalle was inundated with “an incredible 285 mm fell in 32 hours. This was one of the wettest moments in Eastern Canadian history.” Insurance payouts totaled $154 million making the Windsor flooding the most expensive single-storm loss across Canada in 2017.The B.C. wildfires came after a snowy winter that was weather story No. 4 and the province's wettest spring. Summer turned hot and dry and aggressive wildfires forced 50,000 British Columbians to leave their homes. “A province-wide state of emergency, the first in 15 years and the province's longest one, began on July 7 and lasted until Sept. 15. “In total, the BC Wildfire Service reported 1,265 fires that scorched 1.2 million hectares of timber, bush and grassland (an area twice the size of Prince Edward Island), smashing the previous record for burned land by 30%. Total firefighting costs exceeded half a billion dollars and insured property losses reached close to $130 million.”Meanwhile it was hot and dry across the Prairies with the southeastern region recording “its driest summer in 70 years, with many areas recording less than half their normal rainfall during the growing season.“Credit must be paid to growers of any product that made it to market, with the heat and drought impacting crops across the board,” the weather service said. “Livestock also suffered, as watering holes and grazing land dried up, with hundreds of cattle dying from dehydration. The only positive outcome from the persistent dry heat was a reduction in mosquitoes.”Story No. 7. was the winter's worst storm, which “stretched across Eastern Canada striking parts of Ontario on March 13, before moving towards the East into Quebec and Atlantic Canada over the next two days.”With massive snowfalls and howling winds, “The monster storm took five lives and left hundreds of people stranded in a multitude of accidents across the south. On one stretch of highway in Montréal, 300 people spent the night stranded in their cars.“Moving further east on the Ides of March, the storm still packed enough punch to cripple parts of Atlantic Canada.”The weather service noted that fall arrived on Sept. 22. During the next week, Eastern Canada enjoyed the warmest period in 2017. More than 1,000 heat records fell “as humidex values shot up close to or above 40, prompting a week-long stretch of heat warnings.“In the lead up to the five-day scorcher, there were two weeks of delightfully sunny, warm and rain-free weather. It was the most beautiful stretch of summer weather in the entire year.”“The unusual heat across the eastern half of North America was due to a strong ridge of high pressure south of the Great Lakes that caused a large northward bulge in the jet stream.It's likely that the four major hurricanes – Harvey, Irma, Jose and Maria – that happened earlier in the season shook up the atmosphere, enabling summer temperatures to arrive eventually, even though it was after the autumnal equinox.Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.