Weather station types

Station types

Most weather stations report at least wind, temperature, dew point temperature and some form of precipitation, either rain using a tipping bucket rain gauge or "precipitation" which, in this context, is rain or snow measured by weight and reported as if rain or melted snow in mm.

Forestry and agriculture stations typically report rain and/or precipitation. Highways stations report precipitation and/or snow.

Snow depth is measured from above by an acoustic sensor pointing downward.

Manned and automated Nav Can stations may also report sky condition, visibility and current weather.

Marine stations, exposed to offshore winds, often only report wind and temperature. Buoys report wind, air and water temperature and sea state.

Hydrometric stations report water level and, less frequently, river flow in cubic metres/second and called "discharge".

The list is provided as a rough picture of what is available on the site.

Weather stations

Agency	Station type	# Stations	Weather parameters	Frequency	More
Canada MSC	CAAUT8	570	wind, t/td, mslp, rain/snow/precip	1 hour
Canada MSC	CAAUTM	330	wind, t/td, mslp, rain/snow/precip	10 min	* see comment below
Canada DFO buoys	CABUOY	30	wind, t, sst, seas	1 hour
Canada DFO lights	CALGHT	28	wind, t, sst, seas	3 hours	human observer, none overnight
Canada DND	NDAUT	8	wind, t/td, mslp, vis	30 min
Parks Canada	PRKCAN	20	wind, t/td, rain, snow	1 hour
Nav Can	NCAUT	210	wind, t/td, mslp, vis, wx	1 hour+specials
Nav Can	NCMAN	210	wind, t/td, mslp, vis, wx	1 hour+specials	human observer
BC Env	BCAIRQ	50	wind, t/td	1 hour
BC Env	BCSNOW	40	t, precip	1 hour
BC Forests	BCFFOR	240	wind, t/td, rain	1 hour
BC Transport	BCWHYS	165	wind, t/td, snow,precip	1 hour
AB	ABAUT8	170	wind, t/td, rain/snow/precip	1 hour
SK	SKFFOR	85	wind, t/td, rain	1 hour
ON Forests	ONFFOR	115	wind, t/td, rain,snow	1 hour
ON Transport	ONHWYS	150	wind, t/td, precip	several per hour
ON Grand R. C.A.	ONGRCA	20	t, precip	1 hour
ON Toronto C.A.	ONTRCA	0			may be added later
QC Port of Montreal	QCPOML	5	wind, t/td, rain	30 min
NB Forests	NBFFOR	25	wind, t/td, rain	1 hour
NS Forests	NSFFOR	30	wind, t/td, rain	1 hour
NS Forests	NLFFOR	30	wind, t/td, rain	1 hour
NL Water	NLWATR	10	wind, t/td, snow,precip, sun	1 hour
YT Forests	YTFFOR	25	wind, t/td, rain	1 hour
YT Water	YTWATR	5	wind, t/td, rain	1 hour
YT Avalanche	YTAVAL	3	precip	1 hour
NT	NTFFOR	38	wind, t/td, rain, sun	1 hour

* 330 of the hourly CAAUT8 stations also report every minute with a summary report every 10 minutes, presented as CAAUTM stations.

Terms

t/td : temperature and dew point temperature (humidity)
mslp : mean sea level pressure
rain : rain as measured by a tipping bucket rain gauge
precip : precipitation, rain or snow measured by weight
snow : snow depth
wx : observed weather by a person or machine, eg. "light rain"
sst : sea surface temperature
flow rate : total river volume flow rate
sun : can be sunshine hours or intensity (insolation) in watts per square meter on a horizontal surface
MSC : Meteorological Service of Canada (part of Environment Canada)
DFO : Department of Fisheries and Oceans
DND : Department of National Defence

Hydrometric stations

Agency	Station type	# Stations	Parameters	Frequency
BC	HBCSTRM	435	water level, flow rate	30 minutes
AB	HABSTRM	410	water level, flow rate	30 minutes
SK	HSKSTRM	150	water level, flow rate	30 minutes
MB	HMBSTRM	200	water level, flow rate	30 minutes
ON	HBCSTRM	520	water level, flow rate	30 minutes
QC	QCCSTRM	15	water level, flow rate	30 minutes
NB	NBCSTRM	50	water level, flow rate	30 minutes
NS	NSCSTRM	30	water level, flow rate	30 minutes
PE	PECSTRM	10	water level, flow rate	30 minutes
NL	NLCSTRM	105	water level, flow rate	30 minutes
YT	YTCSTRM	70	water level, flow rate	30 minutes
NT	NTCSTRM	90	water level, flow rate	30 minutes
NU	NUCSTRM	20	water level, flow rate	30 minutes

Lists were prepared in June 2023.