Woman standing within a chain fenced compound, in front of a white boxlike cabinet.
Weather

Quadra resident hangs up ‘volunteer weather observer’ hat after 39 years

CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

Quadra Island resident Sharron Hatelt retired from her volunteer weather observer duties with Environment and Climate Change Canada‘s Atmospheric Monitoring Section on Dec. 31, 2022—a position she held continuously since 1983.

Over the years, her tasks consisted of walking out to her yard every morning and evening around 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. and recording the measurements for precipitation, as well as the immediate, high and low temperatures for the period, then resetting the equipment for her next reading. She then submitted the data to Environment Canada—mailing it in during the early years, and, more recently, sending the data electronically.

Environment Canada has decided to decommission the Heriot Bay South East station, but its historical data is available online.

Average annual rainfall in Quadra Island’s Heriot Bay from 1995-2022, as recorded by Hatelt. Image courtesy of Sharron Hatelt.

With the added time now, Hatelt plans to help raise money for Quadra charities, for example, weaving cloth using the tartan pattern she designed herself for Heriot Bay.

Top image credit: Sharron Hatelt at the weather monitoring station in her yard. Image courtesy of Sharron Hatelt.