British Columbia suffered — and suffered and suffered — from the weather in 2006, Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips says in his annual roundup of top weather stories.

A West Vancouver house's yard is turned upside down because of high winds earlier this month.
(CBC)

"It was almost as if Nature had this area in its crosshairs," Phillips told CBC News on Thursday.

The province took the top two spots in his Top 10 weather stories for the year, and also nailed position No. 9.

B.C. was very wet, excessively dry, battered by storms, snowed on and frozen, and in Vancouver, approached a record for the most consecutive rainy days.

The consequences were dire, from a widespread and lengthy boil-water alert, to hundreds of thousands left without power, damage to hundreds of homes, trees down in Vancouver's Stanley Park, extensive wildfires and the depression that comes from 27 wet days in a row.

But it wasn't all bad in 2006, Phillips said. 

The Vancouver water supply was compromised by the extreme weather.
(CBC)

"This year we were spared devastating hurricanes, severe drought and plagues," he pointed out. "There were no summer blackouts, and we experienced less weather-related personal injuries and fatalities."

His Top 10 are:

1. Early November storms in B.C. brought so much rain, "every river in the Lower Mainland, the South Coast and the southern half of Vancouver Island rose close to or above flood stage." A Nov. 15 storm toppled power lines, leaving an estimated 200,000 people without electricity. The rain caused landslides into reservoirs that serve Vancouver, forcing two million residents to boil their water. Later in the month, snow and freezing temperatures hit Vancouver. 
2. Vancouver Island and Lower Mainland residents suffered three storms in five days in mid-December, with violent winds leaving a record 250,000 without power. 
3. Three summer windstorms cut swaths through central Ontario and Quebec, starting on July 17. In Ontario, two people died and 250,000 were left without power. Two weeks later, tornados smashed cottages and trees in Ontario and left 450,000 without power in Quebec, where two were killed. 
4. It was the second warmest summer on record, with temperatures more than three degrees above normal near the Northwest Territories-Nunavut boundary. Southern Manitoba suffered record dryness.
5. In parts of the Prairies, hail events set a record, with 221 in total, compared to the 179 record set last year. Calgary was hit with golf-ball-sized hail in July, then in August, a storm in central Alberta dropped hail as large as tennis balls. In Springbrook, "damage to 400 homes reached into the millions of dollars." In Manitoba on Aug. 5, a tornado devastated Gull Lake, uprooting trees, flipping vehicles and destroying small buildings. One person was killed.
6. January delivered a flood of mild Pacific air across the country. December to February proved to be the warmest winter season in almost 60 years.
7. "The Canadian wildfire season began early, ended late and was extremely active." Between late June and early July, more than 2,000 people north of La Ronge, Sask., were evacuated from their homes.
8. It was an average hurricane season, though the Atlantic region saw heavy rains, winds and some damage. On Sept. 13, tropical storm Florence toppled trees, knocked out power and flooded property in Newfoundland and Labrador.
9. Vancouver suffered 27 days of rain from December into January. "Residents of the Lower Mainland came to calling it the 'Lower Rainland' following never-ending downpours that were wearing out umbrellas and spirits." In Tofino, usually one of the wettest spots in Canada, there was no significant rain from July 14 to Sept. 16, and the town declared it was running out of water.
10. Pundits predicted voters would stay home because of cold and storms in the first winter election in 25 years, on Jan. 23. But it was unseasonably warm.

The rankings are based on the impact of the weather, the extent of the area affected, economic effects and how long the event remained as a top news story.