Patrick McCarthy

Head - Prairie & Arctic Storm Prediction Centre at Meteorological Service of Canada

Pat is the manager of one of Canada’s major weather forecast centres.  The Prairie and Arctic Storm Prediction Centre is responsible for all weather forecasts and warnings for the three Prairie Provinces, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories.  The office is also responsible for marine forecasts for major inland lakes within this region, as well as for Hudson Bay, for all territorial waters in the Arctic, and international waters north of Alaska and Greenland.

Pat has been a severe weather specialist throughout his career.  While a meteorology student at the University of Alberta, he worked for the Alberta Weather Centre on their severe weather team.  He became their primary storm damage surveyor, surveying many damage sites including the Edmonton tornado in 1987.  He became a meteorologist for Environment Canada in 1988 and spent his first two years forecasting for the Gander Weather Centre in Newfoundland.  He was then deployed to the Prairie Weather Centre in Winnipeg and soon became one of their severe weather forecasters.  Eventually, he became the manager for the office’s severe weather program.

Pat is an expert in severe weather, particularly for summer storms.  He has written numerous papers related to Prairie summer severe storms.  He also maintains the region’s database of severe events, such as hail, tornadoes and windstorms.