Canada introduces new colour-coded system for weather alerts

Environment and Climate Change Canada is introducing a new colour-coded, tiered weather alert system to help Canadians better prepare.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) is introducing a new colour-coded, tiered weather alert system, the department said in a press release.

Instead of simply stating the hazard and alert type, new alerts will include a colour level:

• Yellow: Hazardous weather may cause damage, disruption or health impacts
• Orange: Severe weather is likely to cause significant damage, disruption or health impacts
• Red: Very dangerous and possibly life-threatening weather will cause extreme damage and disruption

“We continue to experience more frequent and extreme weather in Canada, which makes it more important than ever for Canadians to have access to clear, accurate, and easy-to-understand weather alerts,” Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin said in a statement.

“By improving how severe weather is reported, we are helping Canadians better understand and prepare for potential impacts, so they can make informed decisions about how and when to protect themselves, their loved ones, and their property.”

According to Jesse Wagar, ECCC’s warning preparedness meteorologist, the new warning system aims to modernize the public weather program.

In an interview with CTVNews.ca, Wagar said the new alert system incorporates “the confidence of our meteorologists” in the forecasts to help people plan ahead.

The new system is a move “towards more impact-based forecasting and alerts, as opposed to threshold-based forecasting and alerts,” Wagar said. Threshold-based forecasting works off of weather conditions Wagar said, using “10 centimetres of snow in a certain number of hours” as an example.

Instead, impact-based forecasting relies on the predicted impact of upcoming weather. According to Wagar, the new system is more in line with the World Meteorological Organization’s advice.

“We’re not doing this alone,” Wagar said, “we have an extensive partner network to help us with the risk assessment, and it’s based on situational awareness, and it really is collaborative efforts.”

She went on to explain that although, ECC will incorporate local at-risk infrastructure in their alert calculations, Canadians should also keep an eye on alerts from their local agencies.

CTV meteorologist Kelsey McEwen compared the new system to the U.K.’s, which also uses a colour gradient.

“Without even really knowing much about it, you can look at it and go ‘yellow is less intense than red.’ It’s intuitive that way,” she said in an interview.

She explained that the new gradient system “gives the general public a better idea of ‘OK, here’s the weather, what do I do next’?”

McEwen used the example of freezing rain. Yellow might suggest to Canadians that they need to take moderate precautions, like salting their sidewalk, and anticipate some outages, while red would mean the risk is much more serious, like the ice storm of 1998.

“Under this new system there should be a better immediate understanding for the average person.” McEwen said.

Wagar said “we recognize that it’s a change and it is going to take some time to get used to, but the intent here is to really give people that first glance ability to see just how bad a weather event is expected to be as opposed to just binary warning versus no warning.”

Meanwhile, next month will be a “December to remember,” Weather Network meteorologist Doug Gillham told The Canadian Press.

He warned that it will be a colder winter than recent years. A polar vortex is circling above the Arctic, but that system is expected to be disrupted and unleash cold air over Canada in December and January. Gillham also says a weak La Nina, a weather pattern linked to the Pacific Ocean, could result in cold, stormy conditions across Canada.

McEwen says she hopes the new alert system will help people make informed decisions ahead of time, “because this is the winter that we’re going to need it.”