As a matter of interest to Canadian Cumulus users

[The QCC]

Cumulus, WeatherLink and some other weather programmes use hPa to represent barometric pressure. But in Canada we use kPa. I was curious why hPa were used outside of Canada. I asked Environment Canada and this is their answer.

Thank you for sending your message to Environment Canada.
The Canadian meteorologists chose kPa in the 1970s when Canada replaced imperial units with SI units.
Meteorologists worldwide have for a long time measured atmospheric pressure in millibars; after the introduction of SI units, many preferred to preserve the customary pressure figures. Consequently, today many meteorologists prefer hectopascals (hPa) for air pressure, which are equivalent to millibars, while similar pressures are given in kilopascals in practically all other fields, where the hecto prefix is rarely used. So, since official metrication, meteorologists in Canada use kilopascals (kPa) although in some other countries hectopascals are still in use.
Yours truly,
Luc Lamontagne
Spécialiste en renseignements météorologiques - Équipe nationale de réponses aux demandes du public

Carl