Weather Geek

After 7 years in ‘dominion tweeds’ (Canadian Forces to the uninitiated) experiencing weather from the sands of North Africa to the snow of Northern Canada, I joined the Canadian Weather Service (at that time called the Atmospheric Environment Service or simply A.E.S.) thinking it would be nice to be a weatherman on Vancouver Island (God’s country).

Guess what? A.E.S. sent me back ‘up North’ after a VERY short time on Vancouver Island!

For the next 15 years I worked in operational meteorology in Northern B.C., first as an observer, then a station manager before cross-training in forecasting and aerology (think of those huge high altitude weather balloons), and assuming a Weather Service Specialist / Aerologist position in Northeastern B.C. (MORE snow and damned cold!).

Weather Service Specialists were (emphasis on past tense) a different breed, trained in weather presentation (I even got to be the morning weatherman on CBC for 6 years!), we were also ‘allowed’ to modify, change or simply toss out the weather centre forecasts and write our own.

A lot of responsibility but at least we didn’t have to explain 20 cm of partly cloudy first thing in the morning! As a regional forecaster I was exposed to a lot of weather products you might not see on the 6 pm news!

Here are some of the charts and weather products I used to use and still look at from time to time when the Weather-lennials start waxing poetic about artificially enhanced radar images as the be all and end all.

Cheers!