New weather station gives Grise Fiord real-time look at changing Arctic

ENVIRONMENT  SEP 7, 2026 – 8:30 AM EDT New weather station gives Grise Fiord real-time look at changing Arctic Station is part of 3-year, $300,000 ArcticNet project studying storm-driven coastal erosion David Didier, left, a geography professor and director of the Northern and Arctic Coastal Research Lab, with his child strapped to his back, and Terry Noah, owner of Ausuittuq Adventures, install a live timelapse station near Grise Fiord on July 8. The automated camera system set up near the coastline helps researchers monitor the sea ice conditions. (Photo by Anne-Marie Dubé) By Nehaa Bimal When fog settled over Grise Fiord last week, Marty Kuluguqtuq went online to see whether it was safe to travel. Francis Gauthier, a professor at the Université du Québec à Rimouski, fine-tunes the final steps of installing a 10-metre-high weather station near Grise Fiord on Aug. 15. The station supports research into storms, sea ice and coastal erosion. (Photo by David Didier) Through the Northern and Arctic Coastal Research Lab’s website, he checked real-time images from a new weather station located about five kilometres east of the community. The view showed the fog was mostly confined to town, while conditions farther out were clear. “So we went ahead to clear skies,” said Kuluguqtuq, the hamlet’s assistant senior administrative officer. “It helps a lot with actual, tangible assistance in real time,” he said. The 10-metre-high station which was built last month is part of a larger research project led by Terry Noah, owner of local outfitting and guide company Ausuittuq Adventures. The project is receiving $300,000 over three years from ArcticNet, a Canadian non-profit, to study storm-induced coastal erosion and ocean changes in Jones Sound, off the coast of Gjoa Haven. ArcticNet announced the funding July 29, as part of a $9.3 million total that went to 13 Indigenous- and northern-led research projects across Inuit Nunangat and the broader Canadian North. Noah’s weather station is also one of seven projects receiving a share of $1.6 million over three years through the Inuit Qaujisarnirmut Pilirijjutit program. A beach in Grise Fiord that is used by hunters to park their boats is now much steeper because of coastal erosion over the past decade, Kuluguqtuq said.  “Because we have no small craft harbour or proper boating docks, we still park our boats on the beach at the mercy of high and low tides and weather,” he said. A small craft harbour…