Where did all the Environment Canada Weather Stations Go?

[Glacier]

The graph below shows the number of weather stations in BC that measured the anual precipitation for each of the past 30 years. In other words, in 1981, there were 305 locations across BC that counted the total amount of precipitation for that year, and in 2010 there were 39 places across BC.

This drop in climate monitoring seems rather odd to me considering we are experiencing climate change (or so they say). Shouldn't we be measuring this climate change so we can actually know if climate change is real and to what degree? I guess since the government gives out millions upon millions of dollars worth of grants to study climate change, they figure there is no need to actual measure climate change anymore? hmmmm... And to think that just last week the Government of Canada announced further cuts and layoffs at Environment Canada. Let's hope cool head prevail as to which types of services get cut.

[Bagotricks]

Where did all the weather stations go?

Look in the driveway of a few select families in Canada. They have been converted into luxury cars!

Those tax breaks for the top 5% mean less taxes coming in. Voodoo economics does not work.

That's not all that going to be cut in the next 4 years to pay for all those golden back scratches. Say good buy to Canada Day celebrations, Jazz festivals - you name it.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2 ... -arts.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/201 ... -tues.html

The Conservatives just closed that rescue station in Newfoundland. Saved 1100 sailors last year. Now the nearest help is 8 hours further away. It was converted into a luxury car as well!

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/201106 ... ly-110625/

Climate change? We are in Big Blue Land for the next 4 years. Remember the census? If there is no data to study then they cant be accused of not paying attention to the data.

[GWH237]

Where did all the weather stations go?

Look in the driveway of a few select families in Canada. They have been converted into luxury cars!

Those tax breaks for the top 5% mean less taxes coming in. Voodoo economics does not work.

That's not all that going to be cut in the next 4 years to pay for all those golden back scratches. Say good buy to Canada Day celebrations, Jazz festivals - you name it.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2 ... -arts.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/201 ... -tues.html

The Conservatives just closed that rescue station in Newfoundland. Saved 1100 sailors last year. Now the nearest help is 8 hour further away. It was converted into a luxury car as well!

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/201106 ... ly-110625/

Climate change? We are in Big Blue Land for the next 4 years. Remember the census? If there is no data to study then they cant be accused of not paying attention to the data.

W H A T ? ? ? I am so shocked that I don't even know what emotioncon to put behind my reply...... ????

[The Green Barbarian]

Where did all the weather stations go?

Look in the driveway of a few select families in Canada. They have been converted into luxury cars!

Those tax breaks for the top 5% mean less taxes coming in. Voodoo economics does not work.

That's not all that going to be cut in the next 4 years to pay for all those golden back scratches. Say good buy to Canada Day celebrations, Jazz festivals - you name it.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2 ... -arts.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/201 ... -tues.html

The Conservatives just closed that rescue station in Newfoundland. Saved 1100 sailors last year. Now the nearest help is 8 hour further away. It was converted into a luxury car as well!

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/201106 ... ly-110625/

Climate change? We are in Big Blue Land for the next 4 years. Remember the census? If there is no data to study then they cant be accused of not paying attention to the data.

W H A T ? ? ? I am so shocked that I don't even know what emotioncon to put behind my reply...... ????

It's a post by Bago. Just shake your head and move on - that's the best remedy for one of his psychotic rants.

Back on topic - good points Glacier. On the website www.wattsupwiththat.com this has been a steady complaint - the number of weather stations that are still functioning continues to drop, while the ones that are still functioning are ever closer to humanity now (as opposed to 40 years ago when they were installed) such that they are affected by the "Urban Heat Island" effect and therefore are giving off false readings that are much higher than they should be. Every time this fact is pointed out the AGW crowd tries to stifle this info - they definitely want the "stats" to show that the climate is heating, even if it isn't, and the weather station fraud they have been committing is one of the biggest frauds of many in the AGW movement.

[Bagotricks]

Where did all the weather stations go?

Look in the driveway of a few select families in Canada. They have been converted into luxury cars!

Those tax breaks for the top 5% mean less taxes coming in. Voodoo economics does not work.

W H A T ? ? ? I am so shocked that I don't even know what emotioncon to put behind my reply...... ????

Your shocked that Weather Stations cost tax dollars?

What part of "tax breaks for corporations that make tens of millions of dollars every 4 months" don't you understand? That means LESS taxes coming in. That means less "things" for Canadians.

Like less weather stations, rescue stations and festivals. They are just getting started!

[GWH237]

Where did all the weather stations go?

Look in the driveway of a few select families in Canada. They have been converted into luxury cars!

Those tax breaks for the top 5% mean less taxes coming in. Voodoo economics does not work.

W H A T ? ? ? I am so shocked that I don't even know what emotioncon to put behind my reply...... ????

Your shocked that Weather Stations cost tax dollars?



What part of "tax breaks for corporations that make tens of millions of dollars every 4 months" don't you understand? That means LESS taxes coming in. That means less "things" for Canadians.

Like less weather stations, rescue stations and festivals. They are just getting started!

Of couse you can prove this? Somehow? Maybe a link?

[grammafreddy]

Gosh, Bago ... maybe it was the G20 security that used the weather station allotment ... or the Olympics ... or the World's Fair ... or ...

[Glacier]

I'm not sure that it takes a lot of money to operate weather stations.

Most weather stations in Canada are run by volunteers, or at least used to be. I knew 4 people who ran such weather stations in the Chilcotin. Three of them have pasted away within the last decade while the remaining person is getting close to the end of her life (they were all born between 1912 and c.1925).

In the 80s and 90s, more than 10 of these volunteer weather stations dotted the Chilcotin (Area shown in Blue). Today there are ZERO volunteer weather stations in that area of the province. Instead, there are two automated weather stations. One of them records rainfall in the summer only (Puntzi Mountain), and the other records precipitation throughout the year, but misses a day or two every once in a while, so this station never records the total annual precipitation in a given year due to missing data.

So here we have an area of the province far larger than the Okanagan that no longer reliably tracks precipitation, nor records snowfall at all.

[xjeepguy]

The graph below shows the number of weather stations in BC that measured the anual precipitation for each of the past 30 years. In other words, in 1981, there were 305 locations across BC that counted the total amount of precipitation for that year, and in 2010 there were 39 places across BC.

Why don't you email ( contact ) EC and just ask why ?

[bob vernon]

Where did all the Environment Canada weather stations go? Budget cuts again and again. It started in the Chretien years, Paul Martin cut some more, and now Harper is finishing the job. It's an easy target to just keep cutting Environment Canada. He's almost there. Hardly anybody remains in that organization. In a few years it will likely vanish completely. Harper will tell you that if a weather forecast is really necessary, some business will spring up and charge for it.

[Glacier]

Back on topic - good points Glacier. On the website http://www.wattsupwiththat.com this has been a steady complaint - the number of weather stations that are still functioning continues to drop, while the ones that are still functioning are ever closer to humanity now (as opposed to 40 years ago when they were installed) such that they are affected by the "Urban Heat Island" effect and therefore are giving off false readings that are much higher than they should be.

I wonder, is the Barkerville weather station too close to the asphalt? It's been around since the 1800s, but somehow I don't think the asphalt was there back then.

What about the rain gauge? Shouldn't it be closer to the ground?

[Glacier]

The following picture represents the oldest operating weather station in the Okanagan valley still in operation today. Is it a problem that the Stevenson screen is surrounded by gravel?

[The Green Barbarian]

Glacier - on a related note - did you see that Anthony Watts released his study paper today on the Urban Heat Island effect? His conclusion: U.S. Temperature trends show a spurious doubling due to NOAA station siting problems and post measurement adjustments.

The new analysis demonstrates that reported 1979-2008 U.S. temperature trends are spuriously doubled, with 92% of that over-estimation resulting from erroneous NOAA adjustments of well-sited stations upward. The paper is the first to use the updated siting system which addresses USHCN siting issues and data adjustments.

The new improved assessment, for the years 1979 to 2008, yields a trend of +0.155C per decade from the high quality sites, a +0.248 C per decade trend for poorly sited locations, and a trend of +0.309 C per decade after NOAA adjusts the data.

Essentially, he is saying what we've all known, at least those of us that have bothered to listen - that the AGW warmists have been fiddling with the temperature readings and "adjusting upwards" to manufacture the myth that mankind is causing changes to the world's climate. Surprise surprise. Watch the cultists go out of their way to try and supress this story, and to discredit Anthony Watts. This is great news, but the AGW death cultists will hate it, as it's not really about the earth, it's about their cash gravy train drying up.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/07/29/b ... ons-paper/

[twobits]

Just a question. Do we really need all of these weather stations now with the advent of things such as doppler radar and satellite imaging. Just saying......maybe technology has removed much of the need for multiple ground point measurments that appear to be subject to multiple errors all the way from bias of the person recording to variability of micro climate nuances.
Cpl of saturdays ago the Penticton airport recorded a significant rainfall........streets flooded, drains backed up yada yada. Four kilometers away as the crow flys, my driveway barely got wet.

[Glacier]

Just a question. Do we really need all of these weather stations now with the advent of things such as doppler radar and satellite imaging.

Yes, because Doppler radar and satellite imaging are crude approximations. Also, if you want to make a comparison between past records and current ones, you have to use the same measurement parameters in order for it to have any sort of validity.