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It was my last year as a Geography student at the University of Windsor when I was offered a job by the Meteorological Branch in Transport Canada to conduct research on the Great Lakes in Toronto.
That turned into working as an applied climatologist, where I used historical climatic records to answer questions from Canadians. I would mine the billions of weather observations in our archive in order to help a farmer better decide what to grow, help an urban planner assess a location for an airport, or help someone decide the best time for a ski trip in Banff (which happens to be the last week of February). As an applied climatologist, I saw the value of using climatic data to help people better understand the climate to make informed decisions for profit, safety or happiness.
You started out as a researcher for Environment Canada. Why the move from the lab to engaging directly with the Canadian public?
I was working on the Climatic Severity Index for Canadians. It was a ranking of 150 locations in Canada assessing who had the toughest weather (most rain, strongest winds, etc.).
A writer from Southam News picked up the report and it made the headlines on a dull August day in the '80s. People wanted to know where they stood -- who had the "worst" weather in the country?
I had to go on national TV to defend this study, to explain the rationale behind it. That whetted my appetite for engaging with the public.
Your face, voice and words are all over TV, radio and print media throughout Canada. Do you ever get asked weather questions by the public when you're out buying milk? What's the question you get asked most frequently?
I had snow tires put on my car the other day. Someone saw this and it struck fear in their heart because I was getting snow tires and they thought it would be the winter from hell.
People always want to know what the season ahead will be like. This time of year, the question I get asked a lot is, "Are we going to have a white Christmas?".
20 Years of Canada's Most Popular Calendar
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Canadian Weather Trivia Calendar. How did you come up with the idea of a trivia calendar?
20 Years of the Canadian Weather Trivia Calendar. Cover photo Firstlight by Robert Postma / Design by John Luckhurst, 2007. -- Click to enlarge
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I was preparing a book of lists -- the 10 heaviest hailstones, the 10 coldest days. It was going to be a Christmas gift for the volunteer weather watchers, instead of the usual greeting card. But then I thought of a trivia calendar with room for dental appointments and Uncle Harry's birthday, but also a bit on some weird, wild and wacky weather event that day.
There's an insatiable appetite for weather history. Canadians have this pioneer spirit that comes from being able to survive these past weather events.
The calendar has been a great way to entertain Canadians about the weather. My belief has been that if you want to educate Canadians about the weather, you must first entertain them.
What was the first weather fact you knew had to be included in the very first calendar? What date did it fall on?
First fact -- don't know. Possibly Hurricane Hazel in October 1954. There are more words written about Hazel than any other weather event in Canada, at least up to the Eastern Canadian ice storm in 1998.
Have you ever had to repeat calendar trivia over the years?
I may use the same weather event but change the anecdote.
The toughest months to find stories for are April and September -- it's not a core season. Rarely are there heat waves, snowfalls, tornadoes -- just not a lot of weather.
You've collected 25,000 weather nuggets and factoids over the years. What is the strangest or most memorable weather trivia you've come across?
Probably the day Niagara Falls ran dry or strange things falling from the sky -- toads in Belleville, lizards in Edmonton, black ants in Winnipeg and frogs in Calgary.
The most fascinating piece of trivia, which stood as the national record for years, was the greatest snowfall in one day which occurred in Livingston, Alberta -- about 112 cm of snow in 1963, on JUNE 29! Yes, two days before Canada Day.
Canadians and their Climate
You have been quoted as saying, "I've spent half my life trying to understand Canadians' love/hate relationship with the weather; why are we so outwardly disgusted with the weather, and yet so secretly proud of it, often at the same time?" After 40 years of working as a climatologist, have you come any closer to understanding Canadians' love/hate relationship with the weather?
We have short attention spans with the weather and we get tired of each season and we look forward to the change. We are a people of four seasons.
Ninety-three per cent of Canadians wake up and get the weather forecast each and every day. Coast to coast, we are a nation of chronic weather junkies.
In all your work to promote awareness and understanding of weather and climate in Canada - through your Top Ten Weather Stories, the Canadian Weather Trivia Calendar, your best-selling books, appearances across national media -- what is the one key message you want Canadians to have about their environment?
My focus has always been on the sky or the atmospheric component of our environment. Many people recognize the awesome power of the atmosphere and its importance in sustaining life as we know it, yet most people are oblivious to the air around us even though we breathe it sixteen times a minute. The atmosphere has an awesome power to it, yet a beauty and fragility that requires us to better understand, enjoy and protect it.
Also, I am concerned about climate change, especially the adverse impact it will have on Canada with increased variability and more weather extremes. However, I am optimistic that Canadians will do the right thing about climate change. It is solvable. We have the capacity to deal with it. We know the problem. The science is strong. We did the right thing with the ozone hole and acid rain.
Our message must be one of hope. Not a sermon of hopelessness or the shock and awe of terrifying, catastrophic disasters, or an apocalyptic end of the world. All that negative hype undermines our ability to bring about action.
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