He was never good at math, but that hasn't stopped Robert Groves from following his dream of becoming a weatherman.
It just meant he had to go about it a different way than most.
Groves said he became an amateur weatherman in 1954 when he started to keep records of basic temperatures.
"I've been doing them ever since, up 'til today."
With a few pieces of equipment, Groves said, he can measure wind speed, rainfall, barometric pressure and the high and low temperatures for the day.
He even keeps accurate measurements of snowfall, something he said nobody in the area does.
Groves said his measurements are generally about 20 per cent higher than Environment Canada's readings.
"That's because they're estimated from Kouchibouguac."
Claude Coté of Environment Canada said there is an automatic weather reporting station at the Chatham airport, but the data it provides is more of an estimate because it is exposed to the wind and there is no one there to go out and take a measurement.
"There's nothing like going outside and doing a real one."
That's just what Groves said he did this winter, when he measured a record 373 centimetres (147 inches, or 12.25 feet) of snowfall between Jan. 1-March 31 — the largest snowfall since 1967, when 483 centimetres fell.
"Too much snow," Groves said.
He said he had an old weather station that was destroyed when it blew over this winter and the heavy snow has kept him from replacing it.
"I have a station to put up, but I have to wait until the snow disappears," he said, adding sometimes it has been hard for him to get around this year to take accurate reading because of all the snow.
Along with the weather station and hand-held instruments he has owned for about 40 years, Groves said he has learned to predict the weather by observing the updrafts and downdrafts of cloud formations.
"Before, I just knew what kind of cloud it was."
Everything he has learned is self-taught from government pamphlets, he said.
"Picked it up myself."
Cote said Environment Canada looks at information from different resources, which includes certified amateur volunteers like Groves.
"It has to be according to certain standards."
Groves writes down his readings on paper, so although he has detailed records going back some time, none of them can be electronically transmitted to Environment Canada.
"Someone will have to re-enter all this info," Groves said.
His records include data from when he lived in Moncton where, he said, his predictions we so accurate people would ask him about the weather before they planned their vacations.
"They tried to plan theirs around when I was going."
Groves said there was a difference of 2-5 per cent between his readings in Moncton and Environment Canada's numbers.
"A lot closer than up here."
In 2001, Groves started reporting severe weather conditions for the Weather Network. Two years ago, he recorded 21 thunderstorms. Last year he recorded 41.
"I expect to see more of those this year too."
Groves said he still finds the work interesting and doesn't plan on giving it up any time soon.
"'Til I can't write I guess."
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