Weather tools

Forecasts and warnings give you a good idea of the weather conditions you can expect in the coming hours and days. But Environment and Climate Change Canada has a variety of other tools that can provide you with even more detailed and localized information on what is happening or what is about to happen in your area. These tools can help you make better short-term decisions about activities that could be affected by the weather. Environment and Climate Change Canada also monitors the water levels on the nation’s lakes and rivers and ice coverage and icebergs on shipping routes. Other data services are available for businesses and special applications, including the production of specialized forecasts using computerized weather models.

Some of these tools include:

• Human and automated observations, which provide a great deal of information for our weather forecasting. Observations represent measurements of actual atmospheric conditions observed at a human or automated weather station. These observations help inform things like: temperature, wind/wind chill, humidex, and (in a number of locations) the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) readings. Marine weather conditions are also provided through human and automated observations, for both land-based and offshore waters where available.
• Maps of lightning activity and real-time satellite and radar images, which show features of weather systems and offer clues as to where they might be headed.