In February 1816, a fire swept through St. John's, leaving 1,000 people homeless and in May during the following year, frost killed most of the crops that had been planted.[29][30] In June, two large winter storms occurred throughout Eastern Canada, resulting in several casualties.[30] The cause was limited amount of food supplies, and further deaths from those who, in a hunger-weakened state, then succumbed to disease.[31] Nearly a foot of snow was observed in Quebec City.[30] Rapid, dramatic temperature swings were common, with temperatures sometimes reverting from normal or above-normal summer temperatures as high as 35 °C to near-freezing within hours.[30] In November 1817, two more fires swept through St. John's, leaving another 2,000 people poor.[29] Many who had somewhere to live had low amounts of food or fuel for heating.[29] The volcanic winters were also felt in the Maritime provinces, which includes Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.