Posted yesterday at 11:30am
Éric Chatigny is a high school English teacher in Mont-Tremblant. He’s also an amateur meteorologist who spends hours consulting data and models to create his own forecasts for the Laurentians and the province’s ski resorts. It feeds its website, meteolaurentides. com, in addition to collaborating with the zone site. Skiing and the Laurentian radio station CIME.
“Meteorology has always been a passion of mine,” he says. I was 5 years old, I knew I wanted to do this with my life. I am originally from the Île d’Orléans. We had a good view of Quebec and since the systems always move west to east, we often saw the weather phenomena coming from the city. »
PHOTO SUPPLIED BY ÉRIC CHATIGNY
Teacher Éric Chatigny is passionate about the weather.
He therefore began a bachelor’s degree in meteorology at McGill, which he dropped out on the way. “I didn’t like Montreal. I wasn’t very happy in the big city. And then meteorology is an area where there is a lot of physics, chemistry, mathematics. I found it quite tiring. I have reoriented myself to teaching English, which I have been doing for 23 years. »
However, he continued to independently acquire meteorological knowledge. “With the internet, we have more and more access to weather models and satellite radar data. »
Peculiarities of the region
And as he settled in the Laurentians, he noticed that forecasts from big players like Environment Canada and MétéoMédia weren’t always accurate, particularly given the region’s topography. There is a big difference between what happens in the valleys and what happens on the mountains. There are also topographical features that give certain Laurentian regions their own climate, such as the famous snow belt (snow zone) that includes Sainte-Agathe, Val-David, Val-Morin, Morin-Heights and Sainte-Daisy.
I started making my own predictions. My colleagues liked me. I built a website. Little by little I had more followers.
Éric Chatigny, amateur meteorologist
He notes that meteorology is increasingly relying on automation: models collect data and make forecasts. Flesh-and-blood meteorologists, when they intervene, do so at the end of the process to adjust the forecasts.
There are several weather models. They were developed in different regions, but take into account the weather across the entire surface of the earth. In Canada, unsurprisingly, the Canadian model is used.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, PRESS ARCHIVE
Skiers can rely on Éric Chatigny’s predictions.
“What is special about my website is that I analyze multiple data, multiple models, especially the European model, which is more effective than the Canadian one,” says Mr. Chatigny. It’s a 100% human process. »
It checks the data almost continuously during the day. “I’m actually always on guard. Writing my bulletins, my potentially dangerous weather map, can take an hour in the morning. In better weather it can take another hour in the evening. »
A must for skiers
Mr Chatigny is a skier. He therefore pays particular attention to snow accumulations and the type of snow falling. “Models will generally infer accumulation from the water equivalent. We often say that one millimeter of precipitation equals one centimeter of snow. But it’s an average, it’s always a little more or a little less, it depends on the atmospheric conditions. I take it into account in my predictions. »
Éric Chatigny has developed a winter weather introductory course for alpine ski tourers. The goal is to give them the tools they need to better plan their trips based on official forecasts or even their own reading of weather models. Basically, it’s about taking advantage of every snowflake that appears.
Suggested video
In a canoe on the ice
At the beginning of the season, Frédéric Dion and Daniel Barriault had to take a canoe to cross the Saint-Maurice river to reach the Topaze ice climbing route.
digit of the week
184km
This is the total length of cross-country ski trails at Mont-Sainte-Anne. No need for ski lifts to enjoy winter.