Site FAQ

• Where does the data come from?
• Argh! The data for my favourite site doesn't seem to be updating. Can it be fixed?
• How long before cities with lots of votes are added?
• There are cities with lots of votes, why are they not added yet?
• Why are there items like (1/2) in twitter updates?
• Sometimes tweets are full of abbreviations and sometimes they aren't. huh?
• Weather condition tweets don't always contain all the metrics. Why?
• The temperature markers seem to have slightly different colours. Is this on purpose?
• The sunrise and sunset icons are sometimes different colors. Can you explain?
• Speaking of colours, can I see all the colours for the health index?
• Some cities disapear from the map when I go back in time. Why?
• I'm writing a report, can I take a copy of your charts?
• What progamming language do you use?
• What operating system is the site running on?
• Your site is great, but I wish it had feature XYZ. Can you add that?
• I have a question, but the answer is not here. Help!

Where does the data come from?

Data is collected over time from Environment Canada. Every individual city web site has a link at the bottom of each page so you can see where the information came from.

Argh! The data for my favourite site doesn't seem to be updating. Can it be fixed?

Sometimes Environment Canada re-arranges their web site and the system cannot get some or all of the data it used to. Send feedback and the problem will be worked as quickly as possible.

How long before cities with lots of votes are added?

New sites are added when there is time available. Usually new sites are added a few times every year.

There are cities with lots of votes, why are they not added yet?

Cities are not added because:

• There is no information for that city
• There is a similar city near by with the same observations and forecast.

Why are there items like (1/2) in twitter updates?

Sometimes the message to send out is too long for one tweet (140 characters) to the system splits it into multiple parts and adds a part designator to each part of the message.

Sometimes tweets are full of abbreviations and sometimes they aren't. huh?

If the system thinks it can fit the message into fewer parts it will abbreviate some words so they take less space. Examples:

Not all abbreviations are always applied... it depends how much the content needs to be squished.

Weather condition tweets don't always contain all the metrics. Why?

So that tweets don't exceed 140 characters, less-important metrics are dropped from the tweet starting from the end.

Weather conditions tweets sometimes need space for weather warning/watches and this takes a lot of space.

The temperature markers seem to have slightly different colours. Is this on purpose?

Yes, the background colour of the marker varies depending on the temperature so you can visually get the sense of the temperature without reading the actual numbers. The surrounding colour changes depending on if there is a weather warning or watch or not.

Normal:
Watch/Warning:
No data* - Normal:
No data* with Warning/Watch:

These icons are used for windchill and humidex as well.

* The no data icons are used when there is a temperature value, but there is no windchill or humidex at the time... the temperature is shown instead.

The sunrise and sunset icons are sometimes different colors. Can you explain?

The sunrise and sunset icons will indicate if it is night time or daytime.

Day Time:	(9am) (noon)
Night Time:	(9pm) (midnight)

These are just examples. It may be still bright out at 9pm in the summer in which case the background would be yellow.

Speaking of colours, can I see all the colours for the health index?

Sure.

Some cities disapear from the map when I go back in time. Why?

Not all cities have the same amount of historical data. When you exceed the data available for a city, the marker will disappear. Additionally, sometimes data is not available for a city for a period of time, so the marker will disappear then as well.

I'm writing a report, can I take a copy of your charts?

You may use the charts for non-commercial use without extra permission. Please cite the source of the charts (weatherstats.ca with data from Environment Canada) in your report.

What progamming language do you use?

Everything is written in Perl served up by Apache running mod_perl. GD is used for the charts.

What operating system is the site running on?

The site is running on Debian Linux on an AMD 64 Dual Core processor. The server is shared with other web sites.

Your site is great, but I wish it had feature XYZ. Can you add that?

Please check the wishlist and see if your request is already noted. If not (or even if it is), send us feedback for anything that you want to see.

I have a question, but the answer is not here. Help!

Please send us feedback for anything that is puzzling you.

The weather data, forecast and current conditions graphics are courtesy of Environment Canada.