The Environment Canada weather report ready?

Here is a national map that tells you which provinces and territories have a current or recent Environment Canada weather warning or watch.

If your province is red, there is a warning somewhere within it. Yellow stands for a current watch. Green means there was one of either recently but not anymore.

Now, if you click on an active province, you see a couple dozen or so small regions and only some of those will be coloured. Select one to get details for the area. It tells you

1. the type of warning or watch, maybe heavy snowfall or wind warning
2. when it was issued
3. some meteorological and geographical details, and possibly
4. a timeframe for updates.

Difference between watch and warning

An weather watch, on the other hand, is a special weather forecast in Canada, an Environment Canada weather report notifying the public that something severe has a good chance of developing in the area. Keep a watchful eye on the radio (?).

What, then, is a weather advisory? It means that unusual or bothersome weather is occurring or about to occur, but it is not severe. An example might be a strong temperature drop.

A Special Weather Statement is a description of storm conditions within a region, usually within a marine context. They tell you the expected temperatures, winds and so forth.

AIRMETs, SIGMETs, and PIREPs are aviation reports describing turbulence, icing and other things affecting aircraft. Airmen's Meteorology Reports, AIRMETs, warns VFR pilots of troublesome weather. SIGMETs stands for Significant Meteorology Information. It gives all aircraft a heads-up of hazardous conditions. Pilots send PIREPs, short for pilot reports, describing airborne weather observations.

The NAV Canada website makes a great source for Canadian aviation weather information. Use the aviation weather link on the Environment Canada weather report map page.

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