Visitors from afar, hot air types from the nearby Provincial Legislature, those who adore poking holes in weather forecasters or eccentric Cloud 54 enthusiasts living in the Inner Harbour of Victoria, British Columbia all share one common curiosity, "What’s the weather like today in the James Bay neighborhood?"

Thanks to the folks from Environment Canada (who try to forecast today’s weather along with what to expect over the next seven days) and the James Bay Community School, located at 140 Oswego Street or longitude 236.620 and latitude +48.417, the James Bay neighborhood now has its very own weather station! Fisher folk and whale watchers will also be pleased to know that thanks to the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, we now have marine weather conditions courtesy of the Ogden Point Lighthouse on the Breakwater!

What a sight of relief to everyone who is keen to know what to wear in order to jog along Dallas Road, to go birdwatching (the feathered variety) in Beacon Hill Park, or to take in the rays of sunshine on a bench at Holland Point. And for those whose minds adore devouring mounds of data, there’s more than enough to satisfy the most consummate consumer — from the current precipitation, current temperature, humidity, atmospheric (air) pressure, wind speed and direction, the UV index, not to mention the trend in temperatures for this day over the past five years!

And for those who want a bird’s eye view of the weather in the neighborhood, they can always take a peek at the Royal B.C. Museum’s webcam, (it’s listed as the last "Quick Link" on their main website. Closer to the ground, there’s always the Dallas and Cook Street Webcam.

Now that you’ve got all the lowdown on the weather in this "neck of the woods", it’s probably also a good idea to find the most appropriate weather idiom of the day to pass along to all your family, friends, and perhaps even a few foes.

So, whether you’ve just learned from the weather report that today is your best opportunity to keep your head in the clouds, your astrologer has just informed you that someone is going to rain on your parade today, or the Wiccans have issued a warning that today is going to be "colder than a witch’s tit"…you’ve come to the right spot!

The impact of climate change on the natural environment is on the minds of everyone today. Whether it’s the increasing temperature of the world’s oceans and the effects on fish habitat or the warm winters in the Interior of British Columbia resulting in the proliferation of the Pine Beetle and catastrophic loss of forested land.

The Royal B.C. Museum (at 675 Belleville Street in James Bay), will be featuring a new Natural History Gallery Tour focusing on the theme of "British Columbia’s Changing Climate" in the new Living Land, Living Sea Gallery on Saturday, September 26 from 11:00 am until 12 noon.

Visitors will discover all manner of interesting things from fossilized palm trees to satellite imagery, from Woolly Mammoth to web-cam, experience British Columbia as it was and as it is now. Chances are you and your ancestors were not around 90 million years ago, so this exhibit will fill you in on what you missed not to mention take you through time and allow you forecast BC’s future climate, (particularly if you’re not inspired by the Farmer’s Almanac predictions for next year’s crops or the weatherman’s less than stellar forecast for next week’s outdoor croquet tournament).