Can the hourly data be posted in UTC time format?

Question

Currently, the data is posted in "local standard time" which is not a time system that anyone actually uses.  During the summer, the times do not match "local time" and are very confusing.

Most people don't know about UTC, and so it might seem better to give them something closer to the time they see on their phone, but giving them something close but subtly different is debatably worse than giving them something they don't understand.

Answer 1

Hi Rolf,

Which dataset would you like in UTC and currently isn't? We'll be glad to evaluate how those services can be improved :-) -- Alex

Comments

This is an example of the dataset that I'm talking about:

https://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_data/bulk_data_e.html?format=csv&stationID=49568&Year=2020&Month=1&Day=1&timeframe=1&submit=Download+Data

Answer 2

Hi Rolf,

Indeed, most people are not familiar with UTC time so it would not be useful to post the data in that format in our climate archives.

The data is presently posted in local standard time, just add one hour when daylight saving time is in effect.

Thanks for your interest in our climate data.

Kind regards

Sandrine

Comments

Most people are also not familiar with "local standard time".  People repeatedly talk to me about the hourly data they read from the archives, but in the summer, they get the times wrong.

*I* know how to deal with it, but it just seems to create more confusion that it's worth.  If you think UTC is confusing, then try to explain to laymen about how this time is off by an hour, but only half the year.

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Dear Rolf,

Since some users would prefer local standard time while others may prefer UTC time, we have proposed an improvement for Chief Data Officer to display hourly data report with the choice of local standard time or UTC time, once the viability is confirmed and when it has been approved.

Thanks for bringing it to our attention

Kind regards

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Will UTC be available in CSV files as well?