Conception Bay South

A wind storm across Newfoundland and Labrador on Jan. 12–13, 2026 produced gusts over 140 km/h, damaging buildings and downing trees and power lines. About 12,000 customers were without electricity the morning of Jan. 13, with communities and businesses reporting significant losses.

Residents of Paradise, Newfoundland and Labrador, were allowed to return home on August 15 after an evacuation order due to the Paddy’s Pond wildfire was lifted, even as the fire continued to burn and other wildfires raged across Atlantic Canada.

Retesting of private wells in Torbay, Newfoundland and Labrador found more homes above the 30 ng/L PFAS limit, prompting calls for a full hydrogeological study of groundwater contamination linked to firefighting foam from St. John’s International Airport.

A tick found on the Avalon Peninsula tested positive for Lyme disease, but provincial health authorities say the risk to residents remains low.

A failing breakwater in Conception Bay South in Newfoundland shows just how ill-prepared most places are for the climate crisis.

Wild animals spotted near on Topsail Road near Brookfield Fire Station and Park Avenue. Wildlife officials with the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture are advising the public to be vigilant regarding the presence of coyotes in residential areas

Conception Bay South was dealt a hard hand by what some have dubbed the ‘storm of the century.’ At least two local churches, Topsail United and All Saints in Foxtrap saw siding ripped off their steeples by the 120 kph winds.The most extensive damage was along the coastline, with both CBS mayor Terry French and Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club Commodore Larry LeDrew estimating millions of dollars worth of damage.

What caused roughly 60,000 dead murres to wash ashore in Alaska? The answer to this could be very important to the murre (or turr) populations in the Atlantic.

Two swans are stuck in the ice at Mundy Pond in St. John’s this morning.

City officials were made aware of the situation through calls to 311 and by a pedestrian walking around the pond who flagged down a passing city

The rarest bird sighted in 2018 was the purple gallinule on the Waterford River in St. John’s. There have been more than a dozen recorded sightings in the past, typically on a ship or in a random back garden only to be seen briefly and never again. This bird was different. It was present for about six weeks from mid-May and into June.

As 2018 comes to a close it is time to look back at the birding year in Newfoundland. According to my calculations 272 species of birds were observed on the island of Newfoundland in 2018. This grand total is on par with recent years.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza has been confirmed at an exhibition farm in Newfoundland, Canada. The OIE report identified the affected birds as “non-poultry including wild birds.” On the premises, there were 419 susceptible birds. Of those, 360 died and the remaining 59 were euthanized. A Canada goose died from avian influenza on in the Halifax area on February 2 (see related articles).

Amid intense smoke, flames and temperatures up into the high 20s C, Conception Bay South Fire Department (CBSFD) firefighters and provincial forestry crews along with a waterbomber fought a major forest fire in the town on Sunday afternoon.

A homesteader near Mobile on Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula is hauling water from a pond as extreme drought leaves his well near empty. He’s seeing impacts on livestock and bees, and calls for government support to build community resilience.