About the Meteorological Service of Canada -Severe Weather -Weather Warnings -Access to weather - Severe Weather and Sports
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Severe Weather and Sports
Meteorological Service of Canada
Service Météorologique du Canada
Etienne Grégoire
Outline
–About the Meteorological Service
of Canada
–Severe Weather
–Weather Warnings
–Access to weather
2
1
Some basic findings and attitudes
Where you live, hazardous weather poses a risk to you,
your family or your property
A recent survey indicates;
967% of Cdns (Ont 63%) believe hazardous weather
does not pose a risk to them
9Only 11% of Cdns are most interested in warnings
when obtaining weather information
9Yet, 82% put the greatest importance on weather
warnings
3
Meteorological Service of Canada
¾Canada’s Weather Service
• The Meteorological Service of Canada is Canada's source
for meteorological information and the only source for
warnings.
¾In Ontario
• The Storm Prediction Centre in Toronto co-located with a
“national laboratory” focusing on “Nowcasting” and Remote
Sensing.
• Recent investment in Warning Preparedness and Outreach
will play a prominent role
4
2
What we do / Ce que nous faisons
Meteorologists’ number one mandate / Notre
mandat premier
• WEATHER WARNINGS And more specifically, is the protection and
preservation of the people of Canada and their property, through the
timely preparation and dissemination of statements concerning severe
weather
• Other responsibilities include :
• Forecasts : Public, Marine
• Monitoring : Radar, Satellite, Observations, etc
• Climatology : Forensic - legal, engineering, insurance, etc.
5
Weather Watch vs. Weather
Warning / Veilles et Alertes
• Weather Watch means there is the potential for severe
weather
--- Be Alert
• Weather Warning means that severe weather will soon occur
or is occurring
--- Take Action
6
3
Weather Warnings: Summer
Severe Thunderstorm Warning
CRITERIA / CRITERES
¾ Wind gusts of 90 km/h or greater
¾ Hail of 2 cm diameter or greater
¾ Rainfall rate greater than 50 mm in one hour or less
¾ Rainfall rate greater than 75 mm in three hours or
less
¾ Any combination of the above
Tornado Warning
CRITERIA / CRITERES
¾ Tornado is imminent or occurring
7
Supercell Thunderstorms
• Comprise 10% or less of the storms observed but
are the most destructive
• Characterized by a strong rotating updraft which
assists in tornado formation
• May last many hours
• Produce large hail, heavy rain and significant
tornadoes
– Extremely dangerous to the public
4
9
Downburst Winds- How do they
start?
Plus
Precipitation drag Evaporation and
weighs down the air cooling accelerates the
sinking air
10
5
Micro burst
11
Micro burst
12
6
Tornadoes
• What is it?
– A tornado is a tightly spinning column of air in contact with
the ground beneath a thunderstorm cloud.
– The rotating column is physically connected to the cloud
base or wall cloud and is often visible as a cloud-filled
"condensation funnel“
– If the air is dry enough, the tornado may only appear as a
swirl of dirt on the ground without a visible connection to
the cloud above.
13
Tornado Misconceptions
• No funnel cloud therefore no tornado – formation
of condensation funnel depends on pressure deficit
and ambient moisture conditions
• Twisted tree or sign means tornado – often due
to asymmetrical shape
• Only a tornado can cause that kind of damage –
microburst winds can be powerful enough to cause
up to F3 damage
• Sounded like a freight train – the sound is debris
crashing, not the tornado
14
7
Tornado Misconceptions
•Tornado ‘skipping’ - the surface wind intensity in the vortex can
oscillate back and forth across the damaging intensity threshold.
This can produce periodic damage frequently described as
‘skipping’ but would still be considered one tornado.
• Tornado ‘so big it had to be an F5’ - F-scale is a damage scale
so you can’t assess intensity just by looking at the tornado. Also,
tornado size is poorly correlated with tornado intensity.
15
Severe Weather / Temps violent
Violet Hill F3
16
8
August 2, 2006 / 2 Août, 2006
• Worse tornado outbreak day on record / La pire journée sur
record
• 14 tornadoes confirmed / 14 tornades
• Bancroft and Combermere F2
• Cottage country hit hard / Villégiature frappé dure
• Haliburton and Combermere hit the hardest / Combermere et
Haliburton les plus touchés
17
August 2, 2006 event…
• Combermere
Aerial survey confirms a
29km track, generally less
than 500m wide
Side damage from
downburst
18
9
August 2, 2006event…Radar loop
19
August 2, 2006…contd
• Many areas hit by downbursts as well
• From a meteorological aspect
– Warm most air mass
– Accelerating cold front from the Nickel Belt
– Severe weather indices very high
– Watches and warnings issued early
• Lesson learned / Les leçons
– “It never happens here” syndrome
– “It can’t happen twice” syndrome
– Dissemination and access to warnings and alerts
20
10Elie Manitoba
First F5 (420km/h+) in Canada
21
Severe Weather – Wind pressures
22
11Emergency Preparedness
July 13, 2004 — A powerful tornado severely damaged a
manufacturing plant in Roanoke, Ill., but quick action by
management and employees to implement a pre-defined storm plan
23
Severe Weather
Sept 3, 2004, Matheson, Ontario
(near Kettle Lakes Provincial
Park)
24
12Peterborough (200+ Toronto (150+ mm) Aug
mm) July 14-15, 2004 19, 2005
25
The phenomena most dangerous and life
threatening?
LIGHTNING
La FOUDRE 26
13Lightning Stats / Statistiques
• EC Study 2007
– Each year in Canada, 9 to 10 lightning related death
– Each year in Canada, 92-164 injuries occur
27
Lightning Stats / Statistiques
Distribution of lightning-related deaths and injuries
by sport/outdoor activities, 1986-2005 Outdoor
25 recreation
pursuits
20 Deaths account for
%of all activities
Injuries
15
over 70% of
victims killed
10 and over 62%
of injuries
5
Le plein
0 compte 70%
s
g f ni l r des décès et
ik
in
tin
g
ni
c ol en al ce
ic G n/t eb oc
/H oa P a s 62% des
ng B tri B
a S
pi es blessures
am u
C eq
g/
clin
cy
28
14Lightning Data
Real-time information
on cloud to ground and
cloud to cloud
lightning for a good
portion of
North America
Personal
Lightning
Detectors
29
Lightning Safety
• Avoid tall objects
• Don’t stand under trees
• Don’t make yourself a lightning rod i.e. golf clubs, fishing rods
• Stay away from metal fences, clothes lines
• Avoid using the phone or shower
• If caught in the open, crouch down on the balls of your feet
keeping your head as close to the ground as possible without
touching it.
• If caught on the water, head for shore
30
15Weather Warnings: Winter
CRITERIA
¾ Snow: 15cm 12 hours
¾ Blizzard: (4 hours or more)
¾ Winds 50km/h
¾ VisibilityEnvironmental warnings and advisories
•Wind Chill
-30 South -45 North for a period of 3 hours
or more, and the winds are 15 km/hr or
greater
•Cold Wave
-30C or less in under 24 hours with
maximums not rising above -20C
•Smog
When unacceptably high levels of ground
level ozone, (in excess of 80 parts per
billion) are expected
•Humidex
•AQHI Project
When the temperature is expected to reach
(Air Quality Health Index)
or exceed 30C and the Humidex is expected
Pilot project with the City of Toronto
to reach or exceed 40C
Health Dept, Health Canada and EC
Began in 2007
33
Climate change / Changement
climatique
Temp Trend since 1950
34
17Climate change / Changement
climatique
35
Impacts / Impactes
• Sea level rise / Niveau d’eau
• Evaporation of inland lakes /
Evaporation des lacs
• Recreation / Loisir
• Forestry / Foret
• Agriculture
• Transportation / Transport
• Fisheries / Peches
• Energy / Energie
• HEALTH / Sante(very complex)
36
18Number of Hot Days is projected to become
more frequent
Fredericton 2080-
2100
2041-
Quebec 2069
2020-
Toronto 2040
1961-
1990
London
Winnipeg
Calgary
Victoria
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
37
Getting the Message Out
• Latest technology to produce warning/forecast…then you
need reliable/quick mechanisms to deliver it
Weatheroffice.gc.ca
Weatheradio Environment Canada
Radiométéo
38
19EC Sport theme cards
WWW.SIRC.CA
39
20History of Weatheradio
• In 1921 when AM radio came into existence, there were
only 2 channels – one for entertainment, and one for
weather. This was the first version of Weatheradio.
• The Coast Guard began marine weather broadcasts on
the AM band from the 1930s through to 1980.
• In the 1960s, NOAA Weather Radio went on the air in the
U.S. in the VHF radio band.
• Weatheradio Canada began operation on January 24,
1977 when the Vancouver station went on the air, also on
VHF. There are now 180 stations across Canada.
• A nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting weather
& environmental information
• 24 hours a day
• In both official languages
• Directly from Environment Canada’s storm prediction
centres
• A round-the-clock source of weather information to help plan
daily activities
21Channels
There are 7 different channels available for Weatheradio
throughout North America.
The channels are designated by their frequency..
• 162.400 MHz
• 162.425 MHz
• 162.450 MHz
• 162.475 MHz
• 162.500 MHz
• 162.525 MHz
• 162.550 MHz
• A reliable & quick method of receiving weather &
environmental warnings
• An alert-capable Weatheradio will automatically activate a
visual or audible alarm for toned weather warnings
• Newer Weatheradios with a feature called “SAME” will even
screen out warnings that don’t apply to your local area and
alert only for the types of hazards pre-selected by the user
SAME = Specific Area Message Encoding
22SAME Codes
SAME event codes are 3-letter codes that describe the
type of hazard – both weather and non-weather related.
weather related examples :
HUW = Hurricane Warning
TOR = Tornado Warning
WSW = Winter Storm Warning
non-weather related examples :
BWW = Boil Warning Warning
EQW = Earthquake Warning
WFW = Wild Fire Warning
Monthly Tests
• Environment Canada performs regular tests of the
warning tones and the SAME codes to allow users to test
their receivers
• These tests are conducted around 12 Noon local time on
every Wednesday
• The SAME event code Weekly Test is transmitted
23CLC Codes
CLC codes (Canadian Location Codes) are 6-digit codes
describing Environment Canada public forecast regions &
sub-regions.
Forecast region example :
041500 = All of London – Middlesex
sub-region examples :
041510 = London – Parkhill – Eastern Middlesex County
041520 = Strathroy – Komoka – Western Middlesex County
AM & FM Weatheradio
There are a few low power Weatheradio stations that
broadcast in the ordinary AM & FM radio bands.
They are located at:
• Parks
• Along remote stretches of highway
• Ferry terminals
The range of these stations is limited. Also..they do not offer
the new SAME feature that the VHF stations have.
24Dedicated Weatheradio with SAME
9 Best option with the most features
9 Excellent reception
¾ Look for mention of SAME or the public alert logo
Dedicated Weatheradio without SAME
9 Uses older warning tone technology
9 Good reception
¾ Less expensive but come without the SAME feature
25Scanner
9 Superior reception – very sensitive
9 Wide coverage - also receives police, fire, ambulance, etc
¾ Most are SAME capable
¾ More costly than ordinary Weatheradios
Marine Radio
9 2-way radios used by boaters
9Also receives weather channels – excellent reception
¾ Most are warning tone capable
¾ Some are SAME capable
26Emergency Radio
• For emergency use in power blackouts
• Uses wind-up dynamo or batteries for power
¾May or may not have warning tone capability
¾ Reception capability varies – check return policy
FRS, GMRS & CB Radios
• 2-way radios & walkie-talkies used by general public
• Some also receive weather channels
¾ Some are warning tone capable, a few have SAME
¾ Reception capability varies – check return policy
27For more information
Check out Environment Canada’s Weatheradio
website at..
www.msc.ec.gc.ca/msb/weatheradio
Summary
• Severe Weather threats are real for all
• Lightning the most dangerous for outdoor
activities
• Watches and warnings are issued for a reason
• Have a plan and procedures
• There are so many tools to access the information
56
28Thank you / Questions??
57
29This document is complimentary and is provided from the Appropriate Use National Recreation Database by the Lifestyle Information Network (LIN) www.lin.ca
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