During the summer of 1982 sites on the continental shelf of British Columbia, ambient noise measurements were made in three frequency bands centered at 4.3, 8.0, and 14.5 KHz. The experiment was designed to compare the relationship between ambient noise and wind speed over a continental shelf with similar previous measurements made in the deep ocean. Ambient noise and simultaneous surface wind speed observations at two locations were consistent with the previously determined relationship 20 log V=α(NSL)-b where V is the surface wind speed at 3 m in meters per seconds, NSL is the observed noise spectrum level in dB re 1μPa2 Hz-1, and a and b are frequency-dependent constants. The resulting coefficients are similar to those found previously and allow a fit between ambient noise and wind speed to within ¿15 ms-1 over the observed range of 0--12 ms-1. Although the data are certainly sparse, a clear acoustic signal associated with precipitation was observed and compared with rainfall measurments made at nearby coastal light stations. When Franz's (1959) theoretically determined calibration is used and the results show good agreement with the presence or absence of rain and agreement to within a factor of 2 in the measured quantity. The results provide encouraging evidence for the potential use of ambient noise measurements in estimating both wind speed and precipitation.