B.C. officials urge caution ahead of expected heat event

It won’t be quite as bad as the deadly 2021 heat dome, but B.C. officials are advising people to take caution ahead of a warm snap set to engulf most of the province beginning Sunday.

B.C. emergency preparedness minister Bowinn Ma says the province is preparing to enact its provincial heat alert and response system if things get hot enough.

“Your First Nation or local authority will have the most up-to-date information on locations that you can access to stay cool. Whether it’s a designated cooling centre, a community centre, an arena, or mall,” she said at a news conference on Thursday.

Temperatures near the coast in B.C. are expected to be in the high 20s and low 30s, with inland and interior communities expected to reach the mid-to-high 30s.

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Bobby Sekhon, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, says while conditions won’t be quite as extreme as the 2021 heat emergency, the event will be “quite strong.”

“It’s going to be a lot different than what we saw at the end of June in 2021. That was an extremely strong ridge of high pressure coinciding with some of the longest days of the year. Now, we’re about seven weeks removed from solstice, we’re dealing with longer nights and shorter days,” he said.

Sekhon adds that Vancouver Island, the South Coast, and the southeastern interior are all likely to be under heat warnings during the warm snap.

The heat dome that stretched from June 25 to July 1 in 2021 shattered temperature records across the province. It was later revealed that the event led to the deaths of 619 people, many of whom were elderly and on their own.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says extreme heat continues to pose a risk to people even though temperatures won’t get into heat dome territory.

“Often it’s because we underestimate the impact that heat has on our bodies until it’s too late. So that’s why it’s important to be aware” she said.

Henry suggested keeping blinds closed, using cold, damp towels to help cool off, and avoiding strenuous activity during the hottest times of day.

Ma says since the heat dome tragedy, the government has “learned a lot.”

“We learned that heat deaths can happen here in Canada. Two or three years ago, extreme heat wasn’t something that was necessarily seen as something that Canadians could be subject to. What we saw in 2021 is that is absolutely not the case,” she said.

The heat event is expected to begin on Sunday and could last four or five days.

Extreme drought continues across B.C.

The anticipated sweltering temperatures come as much of the province is experiencing drought conditions.

As of Thursday afternoon, 28 out of B.C.’s 34 water basins were under a level 4 or 5 drought level on the five-level scale, according to the province’s drought map.

“This level of extreme drought has never been seen in this province before,” Ma said of the drought conditions.

The minister explains that at this point last year, there was just one area that was under a level 5 drought level.

“It is a type of hazard that B.C. has not experienced at this extreme level before, and it will require all levels of government to pull together to get through this,” she said.

Ma says she and the government are looking to see what the long-term ramifications are to the dry conditions that have been persisting this year.

“We are largely building the ship as we are sailing it,” she noted.

Bruce Ralston, B.C.’s forestry minister, says the dry conditions are also affecting wildfire fighting efforts throughout the province.

“As the drought continues, there will be situations where difficult decisions will be made by the Ministry of Forests to protect water supplies,” he said.

Ralston says the ministry is keeping an eye on streams and river flows and is taking “regulatory action as needed.”

According to the BC Wildfire Service, there have been 1,759 fires so far in 2023, with 399 active as of Thursday afternoon.

With files from Charlie Carey