Eureka (Apr 19/04) - The adventure of working in a weather station hundreds of kilometres from any other human settlement quickly wears off.

For the half-dozen Environment Canada employees stationed at Eureka on Ellesmere Island, the most important thing is trying to keep busy.

Cook Debbie Clouthier prepares a tasty meal for the staff at the Eureka Weather Station. - Neils Christensen/NNSL photo

Rich DeVall, a technician at the station, said the isolation is something he has become used to.

"When I first started this job it was all a novelty and an adventure, but now it's just something you deal with," said Rich DeVall.

Tonight is his turn to work the late shift, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Not that working "nights" really matters: with 24 hour sunlight it's hard to tell the difference between night and day.

The weather this evening is calm. The instruments in the station record the temperature at -32C. There is only a slight breeze to the north and the humidity is dry.

DeVall said the calm nights make for a boring shift, but he can catch up on other projects. DeVall is currently updating the station's operation manual.

"The hardest part about working in Eureka is trying to occupy my time," he said. "You always try to have little projects on the go."

Eureka is the most northern weather station in Canada. The closest community is Grise Fiord, more than 700 kilometres to the south. Every three weeks a resupply plane lands in Eureka.

Rai LeCotey, station program manager, said isolation is the hardest thing people have to deal with when they come to Eureka. He added the dark season is also the hardest part of the year.

"It's definitely a challenge to live and work up here," he said. "We try to make life as comfortable as possible." The workers enjoy all the comforts of home, plus some extras.

Some items include three big-screen TVs, a movie library with more than 2,000 titles, a full gym, a recreation lounge with a bar.

LeCotey boasts they have the best cook in the North: Debbie Clouthier

Technicians in Eureka only spend three months at the station. They are transferred to Alberta for two months and then have one month of vacation time.

LeCotey said the three-month tour has helped to decrease the burnout rate.

"People would work here for a full year and they wouldn't want to come back," he said.

"They would burn out because they are constantly working."

To help make the stay easier, LeCotey said the most important trait people need, is a sense of humour.

"We like to play practical jokes," he said. "It helps to pass the time.

"I think you also have to be a little crazy."

One of the best jokes was played on some visiting geologists a few years ago.

One of the workers buried some wooden toy trucks where the geologists were digging.

"When they uncovered the trucks they thought they made a huge discovery. They were so excited," he said.

"They didn't understand how wooden toys could be buried there. We all had a pretty good laugh."

Monitoring the weather

Of course it's not all fun and games. When it comes to monitoring the weather, the technicians take their responsibilities very seriously.

Twice a day at 6:15, weather balloons are released to monitor wind speed, direction, air pressure, temperature and humidity. Data from the balloons is collected and transmitted to Winnipeg.

From there the data gets analyzed and used to predict forecasts.

"Releasing the balloons is probably the most important thing we do up here," said Mark Abt, a technician in training.

"We release balloons at the same time as other stations across the world," he added.

When the weather is calm there may not be a lot to do in the station, but Abt said that doesn't happen very often.

"When the weather is changing we are constantly busy," Abt said. "We have to send out weather reports and updates."