Meteorologist Jean-Charles Beaubois, with his mobile unit stationed on the Plains of Abraham, was tracking a stormy area on his radar screens when he decided to go out to observe the movement of the clouds a few minutes before the Cowboys concert Fringants, at the summer festival last July.
He didn’t like what he saw.
“The clouds weren’t moving in the same direction. It was scissors. When it rubs, it flashes. I ran to production and said, ‘We’re stopping right now’.”
Following Mr. Beaubois’s advice, FEQ leaders ordered the evacuation of all sites.
“Exactly thirty-five minutes later, bang!” remembers the meteorologist.
“That evening there were 54 lightning strikes in the Plaines sector and 110 millimeters of rain fell in 2 hours and 15 minutes,” he added.
The Cowboys Fringants had been driven from the Plains of Abraham on July 13th because of an impending storm. Luckily, the group was able to perform their show four days later. Photo from the archives of Stevens LeBlanc/Le Journal de Québec
Courted by major festivals
Since the summer of 2022, Jean-Charles Beaubois has been towing the mobile unit of the company MétéoGlobale, which he founded ten years ago, to the locations of several major events outside Quebec.
It was Evenko who first hired his services for his Montreal festivals last year. Word got around and by 2023 demand had exploded.
In addition to the Francos, the Montreal International Jazz Festival, Osheaga, îLESONIQ and Lasso, MétéoGlobale’s mobile unit visited FEQ, Cigale and Festif! of Baie-Saint-Paul, among others. He will be at St-Roch XP next week.
It was Mr. Beaubois who suggested to the organizers of the SuperFrancoFête that the presentation of the show at the Agora, scheduled for Wednesday evening, be postponed by 24 hours.
The service can be offered remotely, but there are undeniable advantages to being on site, argues Jean-Charles Beaubois, pointing to the accelerated development of the storm cell during the (first) Cowboys evening Dashing at the FEQ.
“If you’re not there, you can’t see it,” he said.
Since summer 2022, Jean-Charles Beaubois has been offering his weather monitoring service at large outdoor events. Photo Stevens LeBlanc/Le Journal de Quebec
Expand
MétéoGlobale’s 2024 calendar is already so busy that its boss plans to launch a second mobile unit and add two more meteorologists to its events team (the company also offers its services to the Ministry of Transport and municipalities) . and to TV production companies).
Interest even extends beyond Quebec’s borders.
“We already have initial inquiries from Europe. At the moment we don’t honor them because we don’t have enough meteorologists [ils sont 9 au total].”