Weather riddle: Canada, radar, and which geography?

Weather is a staple of every physical geography course, it is the theme for entire courses on its own, and it even anchors the entire discipline of meteorology.  Weather is also mentioned in regional and human-environment contexts, as a catalyst for many natural disasters that afflict human societies.  Yet, is weather ever conceived of as a socio-cultural product?  Surely a natural phenomenon, but when studied is altered by human knowledges and activities?

An author from the Atlantic has become recently smitten with the unique weather patterns expressed in radar images from our North American neighbors to the north.  Introducing the subject with a touch of refreshing humor, “A Weather Anomaly I love” and “Those Wacky Canadians and Their Oddball Weather” offers some very interesting alternatives for our sections on atmospheric weather systems.  The twist comes with why these weather systems appear the way they do on radar images – it actually has little to do with atmospheric systems after all!

Discussion Questions:

1. First impressions:  any guesses or suggestions to what is behind these summertime compact, discrete circular systems?
2. What might be particular about the regional and physical geography of Canada in July to produce these types of weather systems?  Think about latitudinal influences on air temperature, masses, the position of the jet stream, topography, etc.
3. What implications does the placement of radar stations have on the ultimate patterns and perceptions of weather systems?