Cobequid Pass needs weather station: report
Posted Mar 8, 2010 05:56:38 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A report on an infamous incident on the Cobequid Pass more than a year ago is pointing a spotlight on Environment Canada’s blind spot in its network of weather stations.
A crippling winter storm stranded some 1,500 drivers in their cars for 24 hours on the Cobequid Pass, November 19, 2008.
Just about everything that could go wrong with that day’s forecast, went wrong. There was snow, when rain was predicted. Temperatures fell below freezing, when they were forecast to stay above.
The November snowstorm was not a particularly unique weather event, but gaps in its weather information meant Environment Canada, and the public, were blind as to how bad it would get along the Cobequid Pass.
Environment Canada has no weather station along the four-lane toll highway. Meteorologists were forced to rely on webcams and second-hand reports for weather information in the area.
The report, obtained by The Canadian Press, says Environment Canada should build a new weather station along the Cobequid Pass, study the area’s unique local weather patterns and use traffic webcam images more systematically.
A spokeswoman for the department says the recommendations are only preliminary and still need to be reviewed by senior staff.
