From CTV News:

CTVNews.ca Staff

Date: Thu. Dec. 22 2011 1:18 PM ET

It's been a year of fire and brimstone for weather watchers, according to Environment Canada, which listed mammoth-sized floods, fires and draughts at the top weather stories of 2011.

Massive floods in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec swallowed up two of the top three spots in the year-end list released Thursday by Dave Phillips, the agency's senior climatologist.

The number two spot went to the devastating fire that destroyed one-third of Slave Lake, a small town in northern Alberta, in May.

The above-average number of highly disastrous events cost the country billions and put a lot on Canada's plate, said Phillips.

"We were getting our own fair share of misery, hardship and misfortune from the weather," he said. "There have been tough years but I think this one, in many ways, has been difficult from an expensive point of view and the extreme aspect of it."

The agency says its choices are based on impact, the size of the affected area and the economic effects of each event.

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Fire and flooding fills year's top-ten weather stories | CTV News