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LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - Fort Simpson is warmer, wetter and snowier than it was 40 years ago, according to a climate analysis report.

As part of their State of the Park Report, staff at the Nahanni National Park Reserve had a climate analysis conducted on the park and the surrounding area. To evaluate the long-term climate of the region, the analysis focused on weather records from Fort Simpson because they are the longest and most complete, said Phil Lee, a monitoring ecologist with Parks Canada in Vancouver, who conducted the analysis.

Dana Haggarty, a park ecologist with Nahanni National Park Reserve, checks the mass balance stakes on the Bologna Glacier that are used to determine any changes in the mass of the glacier. A recent climate analysis report will help park staff to determine if climate changes are affecting the park's ecosystem. - photo courtesy of Susan Henry

The report used records from 1950 to 1979 to establish a baseline and compared them to the past 10 years. Lee said he was surprised by some of the specific changes he found.

Temperatures in Fort Simpson are warmer now than in the past, but not evenly warmer across all months. The average monthly temperatures are significantly warmer from December to April.

For example, currently January's average is -23 C to -24 C, compared to approximately -29 C between 1950 to 1979.

"That's actually quite a bit warmer," said Lee.

The summer months of June and July are also warming up slightly, .9 C and 1 C respectively, but May and the fall months remain relatively the same. The most notable change was in record high and low temperatures.

"The extreme days seem to be changing more than the average day," Lee said.

Despite the lack of changes in the average temperature in spring and fall, there have been significant changes in these transitional seasons that gardeners will appreciate. The growing season is on average nine days longer.

"That's fairly significant," Lee said.

In the past, the season, which is calculated by the first and last day with an average temperature of 5 C, lasted from April 19 to Oct. 7. The season now starts on average a week earlier, April 12, and ends two days later on Oct. 9.

The nine days are significant because in the North small changes are more dramatic, said Lee. Longer, warmer seasons, combined with longer Northern days means faster plant growth, he said.

The report also has practical applications for people planning summer events.

Precipitation analysis shows summers are wetter. Rainfall in July has increased from around 51 to 58 mm but July's title of the wettest month has been usurped.

Peak rainfall has shifted to August, which a lot wetter. Total rainfall for the month is now at approximately 71 mm compared to approximately 48 mm in the past.

Snowfall patterns have also changed. In the past 10 years, significantly greater snowfall during all the winter months from November to February has been recorded. The greatest increase is in November where snowfall has almost doubled from approximately 25 cm to a current average of 48 cm.

The earlier arrival of spring, however, is countering the effects of the larger snowfall. The snow is melting quicker in the spring months.

"It's a really big shift in the type of winter you're receiving," Lee said.

Lee said anyone 40 or older would notice the climate shift because they would have a solid memory from 1950 to 1979 to use as a base, he said.

"Climate is a generational sort of experience," said Lee as opposed to weather, which is more short-term.

The scientific findings are being collaborated by traditional knowledge. As part of the State of the Park Report Herb Norwegian was hired as a contractor to talk with elder harvesters about changes they've experienced in their lifetimes.

Norwegian has already interviewed four elders who used to be harvesters in Fort Liard and Nahanni Butte.

While sharing stories about changes they've seen in the area of the park, the elders have also talked about the weather.

Elder Francis Nande of Fort Liard said the changes he's seen in the weather in both the mountains and the lowlands have been incredible, said Norwegian. Nande can remember temperatures reaching around -80 C in a valley in the mountains.

"It was so cold you could hear the fire but couldn't see the flames," Nande told Norwegian.

Nande also remembers seeing more snow on the ground than there is now. At the time the harvesters didn't think anything of the cold and the snow, said Norwegian.

"For them that was their lifestyle," he said.

Both the traditional knowledge and scientific findings, as well as feedback from park visitors, will be included in the State of the Park Report, said Chuck Blyth, the superintendent of the Nahanni National Park Reserve.

The report, which is expected to be finished in June, is a reference document that will be used as a baseline when the next management plan for the park is written, Blyth said. The report looks at the state of all aspects of the park's ecosystem as well as what aboriginal people think of the park and how visitors are responding to it.

Climate data is included in the report because it's an important part of the ecosystem, he said. The park staff can't do anything about the climate, but they need to know if changes in the park's natural resources, such as more frequent forest fires, are the result of climate changes, Blyth said.