Over a Century and a Half of Canada's Weather Data Is Now Online

OTTAWA, July 31, 2003 – The Honourable David Anderson, Minister of the Environment, today announced that Canada's vast store house of past weather records is now available to the public on a new Web site. As the official keeper of the nation's weather records, Environment Canada maintains a collection of over 200 million observations from over 7,000 sites some dating as far back as 1840.

“The new Web site will improve our services to Canadians, particularly those who depend on this information to protect public safety, and to support Canadian business and industry”, said Minister Anderson. “These records of Canada's ever changing weather have proved invaluable to a wide variety of specialists, including weather forecasters, emergency planners and weather-dependent businesses and industry. Now, for the first time, this information is readily available to the public,” added the Minister.

Health workers can analyze the Web site data to track weather conditions and determine when mosquitoes emerge in the spring so they can plan their programs to deal with West Nile Virus. Forestry companies can calculate how rainfall and other weather conditions affect tree growth and insect infestations. Municipalities can also analyze the information to plan for snow removal and summer tourism, while energy companies can study past temperatures to determine heating and cooling needs for various communities.

Environment Canada's Meteorological Service maintains the National Climate Data Archive, which contains the official climate and weather observations for Canada. The archive consists of a database of hourly weather observations, including temperature, precipitation, air pressure, wind speed, and cloud types, as well as notes on the occurrence of thunderstorms, hail, fog and other types of weather. Most of this vast collection is now available to the public through the new web site.

Minister Anderson released the Climate Data while attending the Earth Observation Summit in Washington D.C., where he underlined Canada's commitment to work diligently for the development of integrated observations to help understand and address global environmental and economic concerns.

“I see this Summit as an opportunity to bring ‘political horse power’ to bear,” said Minister Anderson. “It’s time to get the job done. Canada will bring its scientific and technical expertise to help bridge the gap between the challenges before us and their solutions, and to develop a strategy on coordinated Earth observations for the sustainable development of this planet and protection of its ecosystems.”

“We must clearly articulate the importance of Earth observations with decision-makers and citizens to increase awareness that coordinated Earth observations support our commitment to sustainable development.”

Related Documents:

• National Climate Data Archive [Information Collection]
• Canada's Past Weather Data Is Now Online [Backgrounder]

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