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Forecaster Warren Dean recalls feeling helpless as a deadly heat dome hovered over British Columbia last summer. The CTV News weather anchor for Vancouver Island says he and his colleagues tried to hammer home the seriousness of the unprecedented extreme heat event to the public but there were still those who failed to heed the warnings forecasters were issuing.

Dean is among several Canadian on-air weather personalities who say they've been shifting their tone and approach in light of worsening climate change. While on-air forecasters can be seen by some as typically more light-hearted television personalities, Dean said he's been making an effort in the last five years to share "a bigger picture" with his audience, delving into why a region is seeing certain weather conditions and how they could affect those living there.

CBC meteorologist Colette Kennedy, who's been reporting on the weather since , said she's also changed her approach to her job as more extreme weather events occur.

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That's meant reminding herself that it's OK not to end weather forecasts in a "happy and pleasant place," she said. And I have to get comfortable with giving bad news. Jim Abraham, president of the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, said the "unique challenge" for meteorologists and on-air weather personalities when it comes to climate change is preparing the public "for something that they've never experienced before.

Abraham said on-air weather personalities have long forecasted temperatures, humidex levels, the strength of winds and the amount of precipitation. But they should also share the "impacts of those particular weather elements," he said, and what people can do to minimize the effects of such weather on not only the general population, but also those who are more marginalized and vulnerable.

Abraham added that there needs to be greater collaboration between governments, meteorologists, on-air weather personalities and emergency managers to ensure that the messaging put out is "consistent and clear.