A run of record-breaking May heat and a drier-than-usual June are heating up concerns in the Okanagan as the time now known to many as fire season fast approaches.
“We’ve seen 5.1 mm when normally we would see 45.9 mm (in the Okanagan), and that’s 11 per cent of the average,” Global BC meteorologist Peter Quinlan said.
“So we’re already in a big deficit and this is coming off of a spring where we had less than half of the normal moisture we would typically see.”
BC Wildfire, as well as local fire services across the valley, have been warning residents about how this year’s hot, dry spring could turn into a fiery summer if people aren’t careful.
That message hasn’t changed, despite a seemingly cool and cloudy stretch of recent weather.
“Typically the number of severe wildfires in July and August is dependent on the amount of rain received in June,” Melanie Bibeau, BC Wildfire information officer, said.
“We have seen 87 wildfires throughout the Kamloops Fire Centre, so that has resulted in about 1,500-hectares burned.”
In the same time period last year, only 98 hectares were burned.
Rain is much needed but what’s in the forecast at the moment — thunderstorms — comes with a risk of exacerbating the problem at hand.
“Often in moist conditions, a lightning strike may cause ignition, but not immediately grow into a fire, so we definitely want to ensure that people are keeping their eyes out if they see something that may be a wildfire,” Bibeau said.
After the storm risk passes, Quinlan said the weather should return to the status quo, or hot.
“Temperatures throughout June have been trending warmer than normal, and as we look ahead to July and August, it looks like it’s going to be a very hot and dry summer season, so that’s only going to worsen the wildfire risk,” he said.
To report a wildfire, you can do so on the BC Wildfire Service app, or by calling *5555.
— with files from Jayden Wasney
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