3 ms·

In Canada, I use weather.gc.ca . It's steered me through some terrible ice storms. https://www.weather.gc.ca/city/pages/qc-147_metric_e.html https://www.weathe

In Canada, I use weather.gc.ca . It's steered me through some terrible ice storms. https://www.weather.gc.ca/city/pages/qc-147_metric_e.html https://www.weather.gc.ca/city/pages/qc-147_metric_e.html Does weather.gov suit your purposes? https://www.weather.gov/mfl/ https://www.weather.gov/mfl/

switchbak 3y ago
I’ve found the Canadian weather site to be quite inaccurate as compared to a local forecast from weather underground. Especially when it comes to short term predictions of actual rain, it seems magnitudes better, and it updates its forecasts at a much higher frequency. The precipitation view is only available on the web view for some reason. That said, the Weather Canada satellite view is indispensable. Even if the site hasn’t changed in literally 25 years.
bee_rider 3y ago
What actions are necessary on your part? Having been lucky enough to grow up in New England, my response to cold weather stuff is mostly… go inside, get a blanket and throw another log on the fire. But in Canada you all get a more serious type of cold I think. Places like Florida or Kansas where the weather will actually come get you inside seem like pretty out there places to live.
- foobarchu 3y ago
  > Places like Florida or Kansas It's not too complicated with tornados. If you're urban, you listen for sirens, then take cover if you have to. If you have a basement, go there. Otherwise, you just watch the sky when it gets spooky and kind of accept you might get Oz'd at any time. There's not many prep actions to take, other than maybe popping open the garage door and getting out lawn chairs if you have a good view.
  - jokethrowaway 3y ago
    Having lived in Europe all my life, it sounds pretty insane to live like this. I'm thinking of moving to the Caribbean but storms / hurricanes are quite a mental jump for me. I guess that's the price to pay for hot water in the sea
    - foobarchu 3y ago
      Hurricanes are a different story, they are highly predictable (even in the very rare cases that the models are horrifically wrong about intensity, like the recent Hurricane Otis, we still got the track pretty close), but gigantic. Tornados on the other hand are almost impossible to predict. The best our weather service can do is say "this storm is the kind that produces tornados, watch out" (a tornado watch), and to set off the sirens when one is sighted (a tornado warning). Hurricanes are high intensity over a very large area, lasting for a long time. Tornados are short lived, unbelievably powerful, and cut a narrow path through whatever they decide to mow over.
      - bee_rider 3y ago
        Hurricanes are also the sort of disaster that the US is pretty decent at handling. They are big enough to be a major new event, but small enough that one only hits a couple states at a time. Small enough to not outdo our ability to focus national resources, but enough to draw our attention. Hurricanes hitting smaller, less rich countries seem like a much bigger humanitarian crisis.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
  - chasd00 3y ago
    Tornados are violent but very localized. Even the largest and longest lived affect a relatively small area compared to a hurricane. When it looks stormy you just listen to a local radio station, they’ll broadcast updates in real time. Also local TV news will have the weather guy on nonstop giving minute by minute updates. Watch some of the YouTube’s of local news during major events like the Moore F5 tornado. Those guys are on top of it and don’t screw around. Getting surprised by a tornado happens but it’s very rare these days.
- jszymborski 3y ago
  Severe ice storms in Quebec (and I'm certain elsewhere in Canada) can result in power outages. We had an ice storm in Montreal this year that resulted in most of the island losing power for a week, others for longer [0]. The Great Ice Storm of 98 resulted in the greatest deployment of Canadian military personnell since the Korean war [1]. In cases where we get a heads up on big ice storm, it's prudent for my family to get some gasoline for the generator and stock up on batteries and whatever is missing before the roads become rinks. Charging power banks is a good idea, and making sure you have a battery/crank radio since the mobile networks get saturated quickly. Ice storms are infrequent, but with the climate changing as it is, I've no doubt they'll be more frequent in the shoulder seasons. Also, I feel the need to say this. It's not uncommon for some of the first casualties of ice storms in Quebec to be due to someone running their gas generator in their garage or under their car shelter. Please never use generators or camping stoves indoors. EDIT: Getting a heads up is also a great opportunity to reach out to loved ones that belong to vulnerable populations (namely, the elderly). It's best to shelter together if you're able to. [0] https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/quebec-ice-storm-live-updates-one-third-of-1-1-million-without-power-should-be-restored-by-friday-fitzgibbon https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/quebec-ice-storm... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_1998_North_American_ice_storm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_1998_North_American_ic...

switchbak 3y ago

I’ve found the Canadian weather site to be quite inaccurate as compared to a local forecast from weather underground. Especially when it comes to short term predictions of actual rain, it seems magnitudes better, and it updates its forecasts at a much higher frequency. The precipitation view is only available on the web view for some reason. That said, the Weather Canada satellite view is indispensable. Even if the site hasn’t changed in literally 25 years.

bee_rider 3y ago

What actions are necessary on your part? Having been lucky enough to grow up in New England, my response to cold weather stuff is mostly… go inside, get a blanket and throw another log on the fire. But in Canada you all get a more serious type of cold I think. Places like Florida or Kansas where the weather will actually come get you inside seem like pretty out there places to live.

foobarchu 3y ago
> Places like Florida or Kansas It's not too complicated with tornados. If you're urban, you listen for sirens, then take cover if you have to. If you have a basement, go there. Otherwise, you just watch the sky when it gets spooky and kind of accept you might get Oz'd at any time. There's not many prep actions to take, other than maybe popping open the garage door and getting out lawn chairs if you have a good view.
- jokethrowaway 3y ago
  Having lived in Europe all my life, it sounds pretty insane to live like this. I'm thinking of moving to the Caribbean but storms / hurricanes are quite a mental jump for me. I guess that's the price to pay for hot water in the sea
  - foobarchu 3y ago
    Hurricanes are a different story, they are highly predictable (even in the very rare cases that the models are horrifically wrong about intensity, like the recent Hurricane Otis, we still got the track pretty close), but gigantic. Tornados on the other hand are almost impossible to predict. The best our weather service can do is say "this storm is the kind that produces tornados, watch out" (a tornado watch), and to set off the sirens when one is sighted (a tornado warning). Hurricanes are high intensity over a very large area, lasting for a long time. Tornados are short lived, unbelievably powerful, and cut a narrow path through whatever they decide to mow over.
    - bee_rider 3y ago
      Hurricanes are also the sort of disaster that the US is pretty decent at handling. They are big enough to be a major new event, but small enough that one only hits a couple states at a time. Small enough to not outdo our ability to focus national resources, but enough to draw our attention. Hurricanes hitting smaller, less rich countries seem like a much bigger humanitarian crisis.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- chasd00 3y ago
  Tornados are violent but very localized. Even the largest and longest lived affect a relatively small area compared to a hurricane. When it looks stormy you just listen to a local radio station, they’ll broadcast updates in real time. Also local TV news will have the weather guy on nonstop giving minute by minute updates. Watch some of the YouTube’s of local news during major events like the Moore F5 tornado. Those guys are on top of it and don’t screw around. Getting surprised by a tornado happens but it’s very rare these days.
jszymborski 3y ago
Severe ice storms in Quebec (and I'm certain elsewhere in Canada) can result in power outages. We had an ice storm in Montreal this year that resulted in most of the island losing power for a week, others for longer [0]. The Great Ice Storm of 98 resulted in the greatest deployment of Canadian military personnell since the Korean war [1]. In cases where we get a heads up on big ice storm, it's prudent for my family to get some gasoline for the generator and stock up on batteries and whatever is missing before the roads become rinks. Charging power banks is a good idea, and making sure you have a battery/crank radio since the mobile networks get saturated quickly. Ice storms are infrequent, but with the climate changing as it is, I've no doubt they'll be more frequent in the shoulder seasons. Also, I feel the need to say this. It's not uncommon for some of the first casualties of ice storms in Quebec to be due to someone running their gas generator in their garage or under their car shelter. Please never use generators or camping stoves indoors. EDIT: Getting a heads up is also a great opportunity to reach out to loved ones that belong to vulnerable populations (namely, the elderly). It's best to shelter together if you're able to. [0] https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/quebec-ice-storm-live-updates-one-third-of-1-1-million-without-power-should-be-restored-by-friday-fitzgibbon https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/quebec-ice-storm... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_1998_North_American_ice_storm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_1998_North_American_ic...