Improved climate monitoring in British Columbia

Global climate is changing with significant regional influences in British Columbia. It is imperative that these changes be monitored with current observations and compared to the historical record. The national network of Environment Canada is the backbone for climate data in Canada. However, there are additional operational meteorological networks available in British Columbia that are operated by the Province and private industry. These meteorological networks contain an additional 800 stations reporting operational meteorological data that have potential value as a resource for climate monitoring. The addition of these data would greatly enhance the definition of climate with enhanced spatial coverage in British Columbia. Temperature (Tmax, Tmin) and precipitation normals have been calculated for all these operational stations that pass minimum standards for quality control (QC) according to WMO standards for data availability. These newly available climate data require a more rigorous QC than needed for operational requirements, and consequently there is a reduction in the number of sites for climate data caused by both QC controls and short records. However, when used in conjunction with traditional climate data from Environment Canada, there is an opportunity to improve the climate mapping with PRISM technology in complex terrain. This is the objective of a collaborative project with the PRISM Climate Group at Oregon State University.