Released on September 28, 2009
Saskatchewan weather can dramatically change over one day, let alone over 45 years.
That's how long the Saskatchewan Research Council's (SRC) Climate Reference Station (CRS) has been taking Saskatoon's temperature and other detailed weather measurements from a field station near the South Saskatchewan River.
Since SRC's station completed its first year of weather measurements in 1964, it has tracked all sorts of extreme weather, including temperatures as high as 41°C and as low as -43.9°C. It has also measured 99.4 mm of rain falling in one day. And it has recorded snow falling in Saskatoon every month except July.
The CRS recently celebrated its weather-watching milestone by installing new soil temperature probes that will provide accurate temperature data to the agriculture, construction and roadwork industries for many years to come.
"Saskatchewan's weather is always changing, but our Climate Reference Station has been remarkably consistent in supplying accurate weather measurements for nearly half a century," SRC's president and CEO Dr. Laurier Schramm said at today's 45th anniversary celebration. "These replacement soil probes allow us to continue to have a wide range of valuable data and services that our station provides to its clients and partners."
The CRS is a principal climatological station that takes temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind and atmospheric pressure readings. It supplements these readings with rainfall rate, soil temperature, bright sunshine and solar radiation observations.
The station provides this data to governments, universities, insurance agencies, agriculture sector clients and wide variety of other clients. It is also a valuable research tool for evaluating long-term climate trends. It serves as an early warning system for droughts, floods and other extreme weather events. And its climatology experts give tours to schoolchildren who want to learn more about the quirks of measuring Saskatchewan's finicky weather.
"It's a spectacular day when we can celebrate this many years of measuring weather and determining climatic trends and anomalies. In doing so, we're providing clients with the information they need to make informed decisions," SRC climatologist Virginia Wittrock said. "We're now looking forward to many more years of using this data to meet new clients' needs as well as continuing to serve those who have remained strong partners over the years."
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For more information, contact:
Cam Zimmer
Saskatchewan Research Council
Saskatoon
Phone: 306-933-6367
Email: zimmerc@src.sk.ca
Cell: 306-370-9402