Where did all the Environment Canada Weather Stations Go?

[Ken7]

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.

That is incorrect. I used to occasionally stop by a weather station and have a late night coffee. The stations used to be manned 24/7 by a human paid by Environment Canada, not volunteers.

I believe what is occurring now is the stations like the airport here are becoming more computerized and do not require a meteorologist sitting there manning the systems.

With the application of technology all the data can be all gathered in regions and therefore eliminating the hands on. Sadly, it appears with all the high tech instrumentation, our old system appears to be more precise when forecasting then what is in place today... hmm, why?

[Glacier]

That is incorrect. I used to occasionally stop by a weather station and have a late night coffee. The stations used to be manned 24/7 by a human paid by Environment Canada, not volunteers.

I believe what is occurring now is the stations like the airport here are becoming more computerized and do not require a meteorologist sitting there manning the systems.

With the application of technology all the data can be all gathered in regions and therefore eliminating the hands on. Sadly, it appears with all the high tech instrumentation, our old system appears to be more precise when forecasting then what is in place today... hmm, why?

The hourly stations, typically located at airports, were in fact manned by paid EC employees, but most stations were of the volunteer variety. What has happened today, is that Environment Canada has not kept up the volunteer program (in addition to their downsizing of manned stations).

I knew 4 such volunteers in the Chilcotin, who have all died within the past decade, and thus their stations are no longer in existence. On station started operation in 1928 when old Harry was only a teenager (I believe his mother, the postmaster at the time, was the operator). Harry past away into his 90s, and the manned weather station soon followed. Unlike the other 3 weather volunteer spots, this one has been replaced by an automated station that does everything the live human did except measure snowfall (when it's working properly).

Let's do the math: 4 volunteer stations = $12,000/year; 1 automated station less reliable than 1 volunteer station = $100,000 up front + $11,000 a year to maintain. Ya, they've just saved tax payers $1,000/ year in operating costs! But is it worth it?

Technology is great, but nothing beats a live human in terms of accuracy and reliability... yet.

P.S...

Forecast: Retirement with a chance of golf



By Andrea Klassen - Kamloops This Week
Published: April 01, 2013 11:00 AM
Updated: April 01, 2013 4:02 PM

His retirement had been official for a few days, but one of the first things Jim Steele did on the phone with KTW was talk about the weather.

“The weekend was nice. Well, part of it. Well, Friday,” the longtime Environment Canada meteorologist for Kamloops amended during the late-March discussion.

“But it’s March. That’s what happens. Nobody said March is always nice.”

His impression of this past weekend, and its summer-like glory, would have had Steele raving.

Steele spoke with an eye to the rounds of golf he’s hoping to get in after more than 40 years of forecasting, which came to an end on March 15.

During that time, the job he secured by answering an ad in the newspaper took him across Western Canada.

He has worked at busy stations in Edmonton, Calgary and Victoria, manned the Yukon forecast centre in Whitehorse and experienced 24-hour days and nights in the high Arctic.

Between that were two stints forecasting at the Olympics — Calgary in 1988, Vancouver in 2010 — and one at the Commonwealth Games.

In each place, there are memories of the weather.

“I saw my first minus 50 in Whitehorse and that was an experience that you go, ‘Eh, that’s all very nice, but that’s enough,’” he said.

“I don’t think I ever want to see that again. There’s nothing kind to say about minus 50 or lower.”

In Alberta, there were hail storms that would strip leaves off trees and send construction materials flying through the air.

“People in Kamloops would go. ‘Wow, you’ve got to be kidding,’” Steele said.

In Inuvik and Cambridge Bay, it’s the blizzards he remembers, raging for days, where, he said, “you can hardly see your hand in front of your face.”

Kamloops’ weather may be mild by comparison, but Steele said that doesn’t make forecasting in the Interior a breeze.

“I don’t think there’s any place that’s easy to do weather forecasting that I’ve ever worked at,” Steele said.

“They all have their own little tricks they’re going to throw at you.”

In Kamloops, it’s wind patterns that can make or break weather predictions.

An unexpected southern wind, for instance, can bring rain or snow that a southwestern current won’t.

While computer modelling has improved vastly since Steele’s early forecasting days, when weather maps were plotted by hand, those little tricks are one reason he thinks a 3D model of the atmosphere will never completely replace meteorologists.

“They’re still just a guide. You’ve got to put some human smarts into it too,” he said.

Steele’s departure from Environment Canada also signals the end of a weather office in Kamloops.

Kelowna and Vancouver will pick up the slack.

It’s a change that’s been coming ever since the government closed most of its weather stations in 1995, Steele said.

The Kamloops station has operated as a satellite operation for most of his 19 years in the Tournament Capital.

But, while he will no longer be doing the forecasting himself, Steele said he will still be watching the weather in Kamloops.

After all, he’s got rounds of golf and fishing trips to schedule.

[Crazy Horse]

There is some misinformation here.

There is a difference between forecasting and weather reporting. Most forecasting is done with computer modelling, so whether it originates in Kelowna or Edmonton doesn't really matter.

It is incorrect to say " Automated stations are unreliable, or inaccurate". There are many functions that a computer can do far more accurately than a human; Temperature, pressure, cloud height, tendencies, wind direction, velocity, etc.

Conversely, there are some things humans do better; identifying precipitation type, cloud types, presence of smoke, mist etc.

So, you cannot say the old way is better than the new way or vice versa. There are advantages to both.

[joselupez]

Where do all these graphs come from? You just made them in excel? Currently in 2013, there are 321 weather stations. You can view and download the data on Environment Canada's website. http://climate.weather.gc.ca/advanceSearch/searchHistoricDataStations_e.html?searchType=stnProv&timeframe=1&lstProvince=BC&optLimit=yearRange&StartYear=2013&EndYear=2013&Year=2013&Month=12&Day=16&selRowPerPage=25&cmdProvSubmit=Search

[Glacier]

They are the number of weather stations that recorded precipitation for the entire year. Most of those 321 weather stations do no because they are missing data or don't record precipitation to begin with.

I have since learned that is is not entirely Environment Canada's fault because they are finding it increasingly difficult to find volunteers to record weather twice a day. So difficult, in fact, that the average age of a volunteer is over 80 years old. Most of them record the daily weather up to their death or until they become infirmed, but as they pass on, the number of volunteers become less every year. Things are even worse in the Yukon, where there was not a single weather station up there that recorded precipitation for the entire 2012 calendar year.

The other problem is that airport weather stations are now operated by Nav Canada, and it seems that they do not have the same interest in recording data that Environment Canada had.

[Donald G]

I think a few of the Weather Stations from North Eastern Canada have "gone" to a point just south of New York on the various icebergs from the breaking up of the Greenland Ice Shelf ... and recording significantly rising temperatures as they go.

[Crazy Horse]

The other problem is that airport weather stations are now operated by Nav Canada, and it seems that they do not have the same interest in recording data that Environment Canada had.

Nav Canada does have an interest in weather data, but it is focused on aviation requirements.