It all began with a brush with lightening at the tender age of five. Now, fueled by a passion for scientific observation and keeping people safe, "Doctor" Joey Onley (as he is known) runs a Facebook group dedicated to weather and wilderness reports in interior BC.

Joey Onley has been running the Facebook group since 2014. Photo courtesy of Joey Onley.

Onley runs the Facebook group, Interior Weather and Wilderness Watchers, from his mountain lodge in Wells, BC — a small town of a few hundred, situated 4,000 ft. above sea level and about a one hour drive from Quesnel, BC. The Facebook group sees members as far north as the Yukon and south to Idaho, and everywhere in between.

Of the almost 5,500 members, there is a wealth of talent helping to inform the posts and keeping tabs on Joey's work, including a Weather Network meteorologist, storm chasers "of repute", a geologist, a "radio nerd" and, of course, lots of interested residents and peers.

As the popularity of the group grows, Onley is looking for ways to expand his reach and make his informed predictions more widely available, hoping they can ensure people make informed decisions about when to venture out, when to turn back, and when to stay home.

Here is Onley speaking with CFUR-FM: