Chasing Canadian plains

[AlDanks]

I've seen video of chases from Manitoba and Saskatchewan. What forecast and convective outlook sources do people use for chasing the Canadian plains? Is there a Canadian equivalent of the SPC?

[Tim Vasquez]

Not to my knowledge.. Canada is very decentralized. I think about the closest you'll get are the aviation forecast graphics, for example:

http://www.flightplanning.navcanada.ca/Latest/gfa/anglais/Latest-gfacn32_cldwx_000-e.html?Produit=GFA&Region=32&Langue=anglais&NoSession=NS_Inconnu&Mode=graph

and the Prairies weather discussion at:

http://kamala.cod.edu/Canada/latest.focn45.CWWG.html

Definitely makes it like the Wild West of chasing!

Tim

[Brian Stertz]

Sections of E. Alberta Plains...Saskatchewan and Manitoba offer some very good chase opportunities from late June on through August. It is hard to say how many chances there are for strong to violent tornadoes, but the supercells are often intense with nasty hailcores...and tornadoes at times. Just watching radar for those sites in Saskatchewan leaving me drooling at times wondering who's getting whalloped...and if any chasers are on the scene.

[Mikey Gribble]

I don't know about the question you asked, but you better not plan on chasing Canada if you've gotten a DUI or have any other sort of criminal record. I was supposed to leave tomorrow morning on a fishing trip to Canada, but I won't be going because I got a DUI 9 years ago at the lake (when I was 18). It is beyond ridiculous that I'm not allowed into the country, but that's the way it works. I could have sent in some paperwork to get permission, but it takes a couple months and I didn't find out you couldn't get in with a DUI until this week. Anyways, if you ever plan on chasing Canada you better get the paperwork processed a few months ahead of time.

[Dick McGowan]

I've seen video of chases from Manitoba and Saskatchewan. What forecast and convective outlook sources do people use for chasing the Canadian plains? Is there a Canadian equivalent of the SPC?

http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/canada_e.html

That's their equivalent. I was nowcasting for Reed Timmer about a month ago and I had to use that website to receive radar updates (just reflectivity!) every 10 minutes for each scan! There's no ability to zoom either, which is horrible to not see closer than that. SPC's mesoanalysis reached up to north of Regina on that day for that particular sector, but not for radar reflectivity...

People were using Reed's site that day/night to get updates (and E.C. was monitoring for updates from him) and I told them to just listen to their weather radio or media outlets, in which they said they don't have any way of knowing besides E.C.'swebsite I guess their government doesn't see weather as a major threat for their citizens!

Edit: So chasing Canada would bring on a bigger challenge than chasing on the Plains with the toys we have here vs. there. I plan on chasing Canada hopefully next Summer, and then vacationing the rest of the time.

[Dann Cianca]

I know that Environment Canada will distribute their RADAR data for a low fee. This includes the ability to redistribute. For example, if say our friends over at AllisonHouse were to purchase this service, they would be able to redistribute the data to paying customers.

The fee EC charges is actually very affordable, especially if the cost could be split across many subscribers ... It's worth looking into *wink* *wink*

... I'd be more specific, but I only know this because of where I work and it may be a conflict of interest to be too detailed.

Dann.

[Mike Kovalchick]

The WxWorx system covers Canada providing radar and other information.

http://www.wxworx.com/ground/services_pricing.php

I would guess using a XM-SAT based system in that area is probably the best way to go.

Also, the SPC Meso National Page window..gives you about all the info you need for most of the chase area in Canada.

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/mesoanalysis/frames.php?sector=4

[Marc Rémillard]

Some university sites are regrouping data on their sites...

http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/environment/envirogeog/weather/
http://www.meteocentre.com

Also, there is my GoogleEarth plugin, adding Canadian radars into GE...

Unfortunatly, EC does not have the money to share their raw data to the public

[Mike Kovalchick]

You might be interested in this site:

http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/almanac/arc2008/alm08jun.htm

Cool map of the tornado frequency in Canada per year per 10,000 square kilometers. I've never seen this before and the locations of the highest tornado frequency's isn't quite where I would have expected.

[John Erwin]

Yeah chasing up here is bit of a different animal than down south.

I find the largest frustration to be the fact that Environment Canada only provides basic reflectivity radar data to the public, and at best it's 9-10 minutes delayed from real time which is almost useless at times. I would be interested in more info regarding pricing options, however in my experience this has been hard info to come by. I have not found any decent restributed material either, other than the usual website low res image you always see.

Still, there's some great chasing here if you're up for it. I personally have found F5data to be a great tool for forecasting, and GRlevel3 is often still useful up here if the area you are in is close enough to one of the US radar's. I've been experimenting with bringing in EC's low res radar data into GRlevel3 with fairly decent results too, although with the delay it's only marginally useful. EC's websit does have some decent model outputs available too which I consult regularly prior to planning any possible chase opportunities.

You really need to watch the road networks here, at least in Manitoba; there's quite a few "Dead ends" you can find yourself in and the mapping programs as usual are not always accurate. In addition some of those farm roads are very loamy when things get wet; 4x4 or not some of them can be completely impassible.

As for the comments regarding getting into Canada when you have prior convictions/DUI's etc.; I can assure you that it works the other way too. While I don't have any issues getting into the US there's a few folks I know here that have been turned away for relatively minor items such as unpaid fines.

[Oscar van der Velde]

Use GFS Convective Weather Maps (http://www.lightningwizard.com/maps/usa.html) for North America!
Oscar

[Laura Duchesne]

This year, storms here in southern Ontario have been the most photogenic in quite a while and packing a punch, including several tornado "surprises". It's been a fairly active season, but tons of rain as well.

Someday I would like to head out west as that is something I have never done before.

If I am doing "backyard" chases here, I'll take a quick peek at radar and we'll head out with that radar image in mind, guessing what is going to happen and where it is headed. Kinda like chasing naked. Or if mobile internet is available, you could use a nearby US radar site on GR3. Not sure how well the prairies are covered though. Baron Mobile ThreatNet apparently has Canadian coverage as well.

I have been quite disappointed in EC's radar. It's so small I can barely make out the structure of the storm cell and it doesn't update as often as the NWS radar. Meteorology in Canada has been a very tough industry due to cut backs, etc.

The prairies do have a main weather office out there called the Prairie Storm Prediction Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Ontario has one in Toronto at the EC headquarters called the Ontario Storm Prediction Centre, but it is no where near as advanced as the SPC in Norman.

Thanks for sharing some of those websites, I have never come across those before.

[John Erwin]

Not sure how well the prairies are covered though. Baron Mobile ThreatNet apparently has Canadian coverage as well..

The prairies do have a main weather office out there called the Prairie Storm Prediction Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

I've visited the PASPC centre here; it's a pretty cool setup. Here's a link to a "virtual tour" of the place: http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/environment/envirogeog/weather/virtualtour.html

I really enjoy the text products that come out of the PASPC office too; the excellent commentary twice a day from the FOCN45 bulletin is quite useful for me to compare to my own forecasts and understand the "big picture".

I've seen the Baron ThreatNet Canadian coverage and was unimpressed; it's nowhere near the same quality as the NWS products so hardly worth the cost IMO.

I find that to be successful in chasing out here in the Prairies you really need to keep "plugged in" to what's happening with all the parameters and not rely on any official warnings or forecasts to decide to chase or not; those are often issued wayyyy too late or not at all from what I have experienced. Of course I think it needs to be said that it's extremely important to call this stuff in when it happens since that's often the only way they know something is happening or not.

I have been quite disappointed in EC's radar. It's so small I can barely make out the structure of the storm cell and it doesn't update as often as the NWS radar. Meteorology in Canada has been a very tough industry due to cut backs, etc.


While I beleive that's true somewhat Laura, I think the culture is a bit different here too in terms of what the public get's to access. EC provides High Res radar to Education Institutions, Industry, Media and other customers but the public at large only gets the basic, delayed stuff. I'm quite certain there's no interest from EC or the other stakeholders to change things in this regard either.