Delayed repairs on P.E.I weather stations likely to affect more than forecasting

Lack of long-term climate data due to defunct weather stations could have an impact on future planning for key economic sectors in Prince Edward Island.

Repairs for weather stations at North Cape and East Point have been prolonged due to cancelled maintenance trips, a statement from Environment and Climate Change Canada said.

The trips were postponed due to delay in reopening the Atlantic Bubble, as maintenance workers are coming from Nova Scotia.

Don Jardine, a climate researcher from UPEI's Climate Lab, said the weather stations being down impacts more than weather forecasting.

"Long term records are important when you are looking at trends in data. Weather forecasting is only for this week or next week at the best, but we're looking at a 100 years in the past, a hundred years into the future."

These long-term records and data are important for economic sectors such as farming and tourism, Jardine said.

"Our three main industries in P.E.I. are agriculture, fishery and tourism. They all depend on the climate," he said.

"We need the climate data to make important decisions for our farmers, for our fishermen, for our tourism operators. We need good data."

UPEI has funding for 16 climate stations

CBC P.E.I. meteorologist Jay Scotland agrees with Jardine on the importance of long-term climate data.

"That would be my biggest concern, the historical record. So collecting precipitation records, temperature records, this type of information can be very useful," he said.

"Not knowing our past climate and our past weather can be a real challenge when it comes to forecasting day-to-day weather."

The University of Prince Edward Island has begun installing their own weather stations, in hopes of getting good climate data, Jardine said.

"UPEI has been able to get funding to buy around 16 climate stations. We are in the process of putting those in now, there's been three put in already. We were looking at some new sites up in West Prince yesterday," he said.

"We are trying to get several in the summer, but there may be some that don't get in until next year."

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