While it’s been a wet and cool summer so far, the wildfire season is expected to become more active in the coming weeks.
Thursday, BC Wildfire Service’s lead forecaster Matt MacDonald said warmer and drier conditions are on the way for the province.
“There’s a pretty clear and consistent signal that we’ve been seeing over the last few weeks that warmer than normal conditions are going to finally materialize,” MacDonald said.
“As we get into the latter half of July, not only will we see the summer-like temperatures come but temperatures will likely be warmer than normal, by a degree or two, which over a 30-day period is definitely noteworthy.”
Signals for above-average temperatures persist into August with a good consensus among international weather agencies.
“We anticipate a higher number of fire starts and increased fire behaviour towards the end of July with the highest potential for large fires in the northern regions of B.C.,” MacDonald said.
“We’ve seen ongoing showery patterns primarily through the southern parts of the province. That precipitation has unfortunately eluded the northwest corner of the province as well as the Yukon, where there is quite an active start to their fire season.”
The BC Wildfire meteorologist went on to say conditions for wildfire fuels can change drastically, sometimes within a day or two.
“All we need is a week or so of warm, dry, weather and a little bit of wind and our fuel conditions can change quite rapidly and be quite receptive to ignitions,” MacDonald said.
The province said it is working closely with stakeholders, including Indigenous communities, on how best to work on fire prevention before the wildfire season is in full swing.
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