Weather

CANWARN involves an active group of people that spot and report on severe weather. It was originally formed as a network of weather-trained ham radio operators across Ontario, and has since spread to Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, and into Atlantic Canada. The network now includes a growing team of other formally trained severe-weather spotters, from members of the Canadian Red Cross to government and provincial park staff.

Click here for Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) smoke predictions for next 72 hours (Click the "play" button for animation).  Additional maps and modelling can be found at the Air Quality Model Forecast page.

Another resource is the Firesmoke Canada page.  

With June 1 being the official start of the hurricane season, The Canadian Hurricane Centre (CHC) provided a media update on the upcoming season.  Included in the May 23 presentation is meteorologist Bob Robichaud (VE1MBR) with Enviroment and Climate Change Canada at the CHC.  This is a link to the video presentation in both official languages (run time about 45 minutes). 

The IRG Weather Net held its last daily net for the 2021-2022 season on Friday, April 11.  Since November 4,  observers contributed an estimated 23,000 items of data to help Environment Canada, N.B. River Watch, and other agencies in their forecasting. 

Hey, weather watchers! Dust off those snow boards, metre sticks and thermometers, because the IRG Weather Net will start for the 2024-2025 season on Monday, November 4, 2024 and run every morning at 7:30 a.m. Atlantic Time. Net control will be shared by Rick VE9MTB and Scott VE1CSA. They will gather your local observations and send them off to Environment and Climate Change Canada. ECCC uses the reports to fine tune their predictions and issue alerts in severe weather conditions. The reports are also used by other agencies such as River Watch and news media.

When hurricanes or tropical storms threaten, the Hurricane Watch Net activates on 14.325 MHz and 7.268 MHz, and will use either or both of these frequencies as propagation allows.

If conditions require, a CANWARN Net may be activated on all or part of the IRG system.  Be sure to listen to and follow the instructions of the net control station in giving any reports - report only what is asked --and remember the important ABC's: Accuracy, Brevity & Clarity.

Update!  The winner of the draw for the new LaCrosse weather station was VE9GM, Gino Mazerolle of Drummond, NB.   Congratulations, Gino!  Thanks to all who participated, and keep on providing those observations.

To celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the WeatherNet, Scott VE1CSA and Rick VE9MTB want to thank everyone who’s checked in over the years allowing the reporting of over 600,000 pieces of data to the Atlantic Storm Prediction Center.