Page 12A = Student The Castlegar Sun ee Wednesday, February 26, 1992 Continued from 8A wildlife reserves. A 10-speed bike, acquired used, met the bulk of McGregor's transporta tion needs. Satistied with his salary, McGregor clecied to stay in Australia for an optional third work term in order to carn extra money to help finance his edu- cation and recover the reloca- tion co st of his Australian adventure “I still require a student loan to complete the program, McGregor allowed, “but work ing for a full year on Co-op Education sure limited the extent to which | had to go in debt After his year “down-under’ McGregor returned to Castlegar to complete his diploma pro- gram in Business Administra tion. He was given a warm ants to seek work. You sec send-off and received many while he was in Australia mementos from his co-workers, McGregor began courting a and admits, that with only a few young woman who works in the months left until graduation, company’s mai’ he's uncertain about where he Scotch Buy. Frozen Concentrate. 341 mL tins. y LIGHT TUNA In Water 7 o 8 ) 184 mL tins ASSORTED VEGETABLES Town House. Assorted Peas, Cream Style Corn or Selected Generic. 60 or 100 BULBS 4°? Green Beans. 398 mL tins FRYING CHICKEN FRESH GROUND BEEF Regular Quality. Approx. 10 Ib. bag. Limit 1. 1.94/ kg WHOLE. Grade A or Utility. 3 Per Bag. Limit 2 Bags 2.18/ kg lb 8 £ TOMATO SOUP SPARTAN APPLES 379 FRESH ASPARAGUS| ' B.C. Grown. Campbell's. 98 Canaua Fancy ane b eq} | 7, litre box .S. or Mexican Grown. No. 1 Grade. 2.18/ kg lb 284 mL tins Case of 12 Saturday 9am-6pm Sunday 10am -5pm Monday - Wednesday STORE 9am -6 pm HOURS = usc opm WE REDEEM ALL MAJOR FOOD COMPETITOR COUPONS On Items We Carry In-stoc oo SV OSS SO COLT PROFILE February 26, 1992 How’s the weather? Accuracy in weather prediction has improved with new technology How about a job with long hours. . . long hours spent studying, compiling info on, and talking about...the weather. Tom Willson, Jim Richards and Ron Lake- man of the South-East Interior Weather Office at the Castlegar Airport, know all about the weather—they’re known as Operational Tech- nicians, or Weather Service Specialists. On October 28, 1972 Officer-In-Charge Willson opened the federal weather office at the Castlegar Airport and Richards joined shortly thereafter. Lakeman has been a mem- ber of the team since 1987. One of 11 weather offices in B.C., it covers an area from Highway #1 south to the U.S. border and from Okanagan Boundary to the B.C./Alberta border. Open 365 days a year, the office is home to everything from basic weather instruments; thermometers, rain gauges, sunshine Om Willson (left) and Ron Lakeman seem ri recorders, wind instruments, to the satellite Castlegar’s ai dish which links the office’s array of comput- er hardware to a geo-stationary (in orbit with the earth) satel- lite The satellite, sitting 36,000 kilometres above the earth, transmits a steady stream of digitized information which is displayed on an extremely high resolution color monitor. The satellite weather data can be lazer-printed in the form of photos “The degree of accuracy (in weather prediction) has improved a great deal with this technology,” Richards said “But we are always trying to break it down too much— people are always trying to step ahead of the ever-increasing technol ogy.” Willson is also pleased with the technology at their disposal, saying, “It allows us to do our job better, while enabling us to do more work in the same amount of hours.” The new technology has also effectively reduced their year- ly operating budget. The office also receives weather reports from all over the globe every hour, or whenever significant changes take place Vancouver's Pacific Weather Centre, serving as the parent weather office, gives a regular analysis of weather photos received from Castlegar. All earthquake information is handled by Victoria. The typical training background for an operational Techni- cian is a science and/or computer degree as well as additional post-secondary training, depending on which aspect of the trade they head into. eR “ wy ¥ hes You’re probably wondering just what the South-East Inte- rior Weather Office does with all the info they collect. “We handle requests from a whole array of interests,” Richards said. All forms of media in the Kootenays obtain their weath- ef reports from the Castlegar office including 18 radio broadcasts a day for Castle- gars CKQR. CKGF in Grand Forks. KBS. Cranbrook’s EK Radio, and most newspapers in the region Daily ventilation reports dealing with smoke from slash and stubble burning and indus- trial smoke (Cominco) According to Richards, “The Ministry of Highways is a big user of info, for road maintenance.” During the summer months, B.C.’s Ministry of Forests must rely a great deal on weather information ight at home in the work-station area of the South-East Interior Weather Office at rport. The work station area was designed by the weather st lation staff to best suit the needs of their daily work. Operational technician Ron Lakeman is seen handling a weather inquiry over the phone. “We also get lots of Agricultural calls—hay farmers,” he said. “Also all kinds of contractors—construction, roofing and big construction projects where cement is being poured.” Even though the office is located in the Auport, only 10-15 Per cent of their inquiries deal with aviation—the rest being public service calls There are several telephone information lines for the public and separate line for the media. In case you’re wondering, the warm, wet weather we’ve been having so far this year, is apparently caused by a warm current off the Equator and the South Pacific. ‘Al Nino’, as it’s known, is twice the size of Canada, “So it’s huge,” Willson said. “Al Nino occurs every so many years—there was one in the early 1980's, and a minor one in 1987.” Story and photos by Brendan Halper Advertised prices in effect until closing Saturday, Feb. 29, 1992.at your Castlegar Safeway store Quantity rights reserved ERY IN PY PRs Be eine Bron. om