Glacier media and EOAS team up to launch new forecasting service, Weatherhood

Nicolas Duboc, an Earth Oceans and Atmospheric Science graduate student in Roland Stull’s laboratory, and research assistant Kat Pexa are preparing to launch WeatherHood in collaboration with Glacier Media this summer. This free weather forecasting service uses a novel network of weather sensors stationed around metro Vancouver to provide real-time data, making it the first hyperlocal weather forecasting service of its kind in North America. Scroll down to watch our interview with Nicolas and Kat!

Since the project began in June 2022, the team has installed 60 weather stations across a variety of urban, forested, and mountainous regions. The hyperlocal aspect of this solution will allow researchers like Dr. Roland Stull, who directs the Weather Forecast Research Team, and their students to track differences between microclimates within Vancouver’s variable landscapes. In turn, these results will enable scientists to study the effects of land-use and local geography on weather and climate. 

Now that WeatherHood has launched, users can track current conditions, hourly, multi-hour, and 7-day forecasts specific to their location within the Weatherhood network, spanning north to south from Whistler to Tsawassen and east to west from Chilliwack to Sechelt. This immediately accessible data will aid the city in forecasting hazards, managing transportation and recreational services, and making decisions regarding infrastructure installation projects.

While WeatherHood enables easy weather-tracking for Vancouverites, installing the weather stations for the forecasting service was no easy task. Since June, the Weatherhood team has been busy setting up weather stations throughout the city. Nicolas and Kat shared stories of scaling the roofs and summits of some of Vancouver’s most iconic sites, often with heavy backpacks full of equipment, to deploy weather stations. One of their most memorable jobs included a trip to the Vancouver Art Gallery where they were ushered through back doors, among fine art, to set-up a suite of sensors on the roof.