Environment Canada ending Weatherradio forecast service
· Toronto Sun
OTTAWA — After 50 years, the airwaves are going silent.
On Monday, Environment Canada announced its Weatherradio Canada service, which broadcasts continuous weather forecasts across Canada over VHF radio channels, will be permanently taken off the air as of March 16.
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That also means Canadians who use emergency weather radios as a means of being alerted to impending severe weather will need to find new ways of being notified.
System operates 186 VHF radio channels across Canada
Launched in 1976, Weatherradio Canada broadcasts local and regional forecasts — in both English and French — across a nation-wide network of 185 VHF radio transmitters.
The system was upgraded in 2004 when Environment Canada integrated SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) technology into its system, which transmits digitally-encoded signals to compatable weather radios to alert specific areas to impending emergencies ranging from thunderstorm alerts to more serious incidents such as civil emergencies, tornados and even radiological hazards.
Many of the services offered by Weatherradio Canada and SAME alerts can be found via online services.
The discontinuation of Weatherradio Canada will not impact marine weather broadcasts provided by the Canadian Coast Guard.
Life-saving resource
Michael Iszak, a radiocommunications consultant and licenced amateur radio operator, expressed concern over the system’s impending end.
“These stations are often used by people who travel to areas where there is no cell service, it’s invaluable for getting updated weather forecasts,” he told the Toronto Sun.
“Especially with the recent increase in the ‘van life’ community, this is a resource which can be life saving for people in that situation.”
Weather radios are “as important as smoke detectors,” Environment Canada said in official publications lauding Weatherradio Canada.
As a fixed and constantly-transmitting point of reference, Iszak said Weatherradio Canada’s VHF radio signals are commonly used by amateur radio operators and radio enthusiasts to test and verify their equipment.
“As someone who frequently ventures into areas with poor or no cell service, Weatheradio provides an invaluable service for me, so I can be alert to potentially threatening weather before it arrives,” he added.
The Toronto Sun reached out to Environment Canada for comment.
Environment Canada often lauded the usefulness of in-home weather radios, with official documents describing them as “just as important as having a smoke detector in your home” due to the instant and hassle-free means of getting up-to-date information on severe weather, even when the power is out and Internet connections are unreliable.