Meteorological Service of Canada: Appearance before the Standing Committee – March 27, 2023
Investments in the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC)
Q1. Why are investments in the MSC needed now?
The Government of Canada regularly invests in hydro-meteorological services to keep pace with evolving operational requirements and advancements in science and technology. Previous investments made through Budgets 2013 and 2018 laid the foundation for the robust hydro-meteorological services we rely on in Canada today.
In light of the time since the last reinvestment, the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events, and their direct impacts on Canadians and communities, there is a need to proceed with a new long-term investment strategy for hydro-meteorological services.
Average temperatures in Canada are rising at twice the worldwide average, with the north seeing increases up to three times this global rate. Indeed, extreme weather events experienced across Canada over the past several years have shown how climate change has already altered our reality and put the safety, security, and economic prosperity of Canadians at risk. For example:
In 2022, Hurricane Fiona made landfall in Atlantic Canada and Eastern Quebec, with the Maritime provinces receiving the bulk of the currently estimated $804M in insured damages;
In 2022, Quebec and Ontario were impacted by a derecho (a severe, fast moving wind and thunderstorm) that caused 10 fatalities, and is currently estimated to have caused over $1.1B in insured damages;
In 2021, British Columbia experienced an unprecedented summer heat wave which set record high temperatures for the west coast and caused the deaths of 619 people, as well as a devastating precipitation and flooding event which caused up to $675M in insured damages; and
In 2021, the Calgary region of Alberta experienced a powerful hailstorm, resulting in over $600M in insured damages. Only a year prior, Alberta was impacted by another hailstorm that caused over $1.1B in insured damages.
The significant socio-economic impacts of these events underscores the urgent need for Canadian communities to adapt to this new reality, which cannot be achieved without periodic investments in Canada’s world-class hydro-meteorological services.
Recent events have also highlighted the need to climate-proof MSC’s monitoring instruments and infrastructure, which are not immune to the impacts of climate change:
During the 2021 west coast heat wave, temperatures occasionally exceeded the operating range of sensors and associated quality control mechanisms while several hydrometric stations were washed away during the subsequent intense precipitation and flooding in British Columbia.
Extreme weather events will continue to occur with increasing frequency and intensity because of climate change. Strengthening and evolving weather and environmental prediction services is needed to support Canadians in facing the consequences of increasingly unprecedented weather.
Q2. What are the expected outcomes of new investments in the MSC?
Investments in the MSC’s highly integrated system of monitoring, modelling, prediction, and forecasting will result in the continued production and dissemination of critical weather, water quantity and environmental information that Canadians and public authorities need to adapt and to become more resilient to the impacts of climate change.
More specifically, investments will help the MSC predict extreme weather and weather-induced conditions and their impacts at the local level with more certainty and greater lead-time.
In turn, this will support decision-making by Canadians and public authorities to take action including on whether to travel, closing roads, deploying first responders to a specific area, and relocating specific communities with the goal of reducing the impacts—and costs—of weather-related events.
In addition the information produced using updated or new technologies, as well as more powerful models, will provide the information needed to review the warning thresholds and risk assessments that underpin emergency preparedness for both short fuse weather events and events that evolve slowly (such as droughts).
Weather stations and weather forecasts in the North
Q1. What are some of the Government of Canada’s assets and investments related to weather stations and weather forecasting in the North?
The Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) observation assets in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut include 81 automated weather stations, 11 upper air balloon launch stations, 10 lightning detection sites, 1 satellite receiving station, 2 moored marine buoys, 206 hydrometric (water quantity) monitoring stations (with 4 new stations being added in the Northwest Territories in 2023/2024 to support flood forecasting and modelling) and 43 active drifting buoys north of 65° (no geographical delineation). The MSC has also equipped a number of ships operating in the Arctic with weather observing equipment that provides valuable weather observations data from the Arctic waters.
ECCC provides daily marine weather forecasts for the navigable waters of Canadian territory, and fulfils Canada’s international obligation by providing marine weather and ice information for a broad swath of international waters north of 60⁰—an area that includes all Arctic waters from north of Greenland, Canada, and Alaska to the North Pole.
Daily observations are collected at the Eureka research facility, including those from upper air weather balloon launches (twice daily), from automatic weather station observations, and from human observations. The site supports the MSC’s core responsibility of predicting weather and environmental conditions, including those in the North.
Eureka, a Crown-owned real property asset, was the first Joint Arctic Weather Station established on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut. ECCC sought funding of $87.2 million over 5 years, beginning in 2019-20, for infrastructure investments at Eureka and surrounding facilities. These investments are necessary to maintain critical polar-region environmental observations, climate monitoring activities, and maintain Eureka as a key hub for Government of Canada operations and research in the Arctic.
Q2. Has there indeed been a decrease in the number of weather observation stations in the North compared to 20 years ago? If so, what are the reasons for that?
The MSC operates a wide array of meteorological and hydrological networks to monitor and collect weather, water, climate data from the ground and above from satellites. The MSC collects data from 7 different observing networks, including surface weather stations, upper air radiosondes, satellite-based observations, lightning detection, hydrometric stations, weather radars and marine buoys. In addition to automated collection of environmental data from weather stations, the MSC also intakes data from human and volunteer weather observers.
MSC’s networks have changed over the years with the transition from conventional to automatic meteorological observing networks. The number of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) has been increasing, and the number of stations in the Co-operative Climate Network (CCN) has been decreasing. Over the last 20 years, the territories’ AWS network increased by 16 stations, reaching its peak of 73 in 2012 (there are 69 today). In terms of manual observations—which include the CCN, MSC’s observers, and NAV Canada’s observers—MSC reached its peak in 1988 with 94 sites, and had 82 sites in 2003. Today, the number of CCNs stands at 57.
The number of CCN sites has been decreasing with the transition to automatic meteorological observing networks. The decrease of manual observations over time is a worldwide phenomenon. Many factors contributed to the transition from manual to automatic, including technology advancement; improvement of weather data applications; users requiring improved data latency, frequency, and resolution; requirements for additional parameters; decreased commitment from observers; end of land agreements; and end of collaborations.
Q3. Does Environment Canada use data from community weather stations, or collect on-the-ground weather data?
The MSC operates a wide array of meteorological and hydrological networks to monitor and collect weather, water, and climate data from the ground and above from satellites, including from areas across the Arctic.
In addition to automated collection of environmental data from weather stations, the MSC also intakes data from human and volunteer weather observers.
The number of Co-operative Climate Network stations has been decreasing with the transition to automatic meteorological observing networks. The decrease of manual observations over time is a worldwide phenomenon. Many factors contributed to the transition from manual to automatic, including technology advancement; improvement of weather data applications; users requiring improved data latency, frequency, and resolution; requirements for additional parameters; decreased commitment from observers; end of land agreements; and end of collaborations.
ECCC works closely with McGill University and the Nunatsiavut Government on a field project on the Labrador coast to provide sea ice and weather information to local communities and study the dynamics of landfast ice cover. Such valuable information is used by local communities for fishing, hunting and travelling, and contributes to the improvement of ice prediction models.
The MSC partners with territorial weather monitoring network operators in the Yukon and Northwest Territories as part of its Collaborative Monitoring Program which aims to maximize collective monitoring investments by addressing common monitoring gaps. These agreements support increased data exchange, and to date have resulted in data from an additional 90 weather stations being made available to MSC forecasters and Numerical Weather Prediction systems. The MSC has also recently signed its first Collaborative Monitoring Memorandum of Understanding with the Cree Nation Government in Northern Quebec as part of a pilot to inform future investments and collaborations with Indigenous and northern communities.
Q4. How do weather radar and high-resolution computer modelling factor into weather forecasting in the North, and what are some challenges ECCC has encountered in adding weather radar in the North?
ECCC relies on made-in-Canada high resolution computer models to provide weather, climate and environmental forecasts, across Canada’s vast geography and wide range of weather conditions. Areas across Canada, including the North, are modelled 4 times a day at a resolution of 2.5 km to generate forecasts on upcoming conditions.
ECCC’s scientists work to improve high-resolution computer modelling, products and services, including for the North. For example, the Canadian Arctic Prediction System, which couples models for the atmosphere and ocean, was tested recently in research mode as part of the World Meteorological Organisation’s Polar Prediction Project.
ECCC relies heavily on satellite technology and data from the orbiting RADARSAT Constellation Mission for operational near-real time monitoring of sea ice, marine winds and marine oil spill pollution. These satellites are expected to be in service until at least 2027. The Canadian Space Agency has initiated a process to ensure continuity of this data with the next generation of RADARSAT satellites. ECCC also operates satellite ground stations that receive and process data from polar orbiting international weather satellites.
Satellites provide important data to strengthen weather and climate monitoring in the North where in situ observations can be challenging. Currently, weather forecasting north of ~55° relies on data from polar-orbiting meteorological satellites operated by foreign partners, including the USA and the European Union. To ensure continued access to critical satellite data from new polar orbiting satellites, ECCC will install new satellite-data-receiving infrastructure in Alberta, Newfoundland, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut in the next three years.
While existing polar-orbiting satellites provide essential data used for monitoring weather in the North these satellites must orbit Earth multiple times to image the entire Canadian Arctic. To address the resulting spatial and temporal gaps in Arctic satellite data, ECCC, in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency and U.S. collaborators (NASA and NOAA), is undertaking a feasibility study for a novel satellite mission concept known as the Arctic Observing Mission.
Q5. Does ECCC support NAV CANADA in the provision of forecasting services to communities in the North (including small airports)?
ECCC provides the aviation weather forecasts on behalf of NAV CANADA for Arctic airports, and provides daily weather forecasts for communities across the North, as well. ECCC provides specialized, meteorological decision support services to emergency management authorities to help them manage weather-related risks.
