Silver lining to B.C.’s late summer soaking

The last gasp of summer has been more like a gurgle, with record rain hitting parts of B.C. over the weekend, but there is a silver lining around those rain clouds.

Not only is the wildfire risk dropping but there is some hope that the campfire ban could be lifted in time for the Labour Day long weekend.

“With the rain over the weekend across all of southern B.C., especially the South Coast, the fire danger rating has gone down to low or very low and it’s going to stay there at least until the midweek,” said 1130 NewsRadio meteorologist Michael Kuss.

“More precipitation is expected Monday through Wednesday across southern B.C. It does dry out after that and it heats up into the long weekend but we are still going to see quite chilly, fall-like overnight lows, even with those daytime highs climbing up into the upper 20s.”

Kuss says those lows are expected to hover in the eight-to-12-degree range.

“That’s right down on the dew point and there’s lots of moisture in the atmosphere through the overnights and that’s a natural fire suppressant as well.”

As of Monday morning, a campfire ban remained in effect for B.C.’s Coastal Fire Centre but the Cariboo Fire Centre lifted its campfire prohibition on noon Friday.

The Prince George Fire Centre rescinded its campfire ban Aug. 1.

Meanwhile, the number of active wildfires across B.C. dropped from 340 heading into the weekend to 312 Monday morning with the BC Wildfire Service reporting only three new fires within the previous 24 hours.

Rainfall records fell on Saturday in 17 B.C. communities, including Vancouver, White Rock and Abbotsford.

Agassiz smashed its old Aug. 24 record of 36 millimetres, filling its rain gauges to 57mm.

After the PNE endured the cooler, soggy weather, the fair is trying to compensate, saying “sunny days are ahead.”

It is offering half-off admission on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

“Response to the 2024 Fair has been very positive but following some significant rain last week and through Saturday, we wanted to get the Fair kick-started again going into our final weekend,” said PNE spokesperson Laura Ballance.

The 50 per cent discount on admission is valid all day Aug. 27-29 but tickets must be bought in multiples of two and of the same type.

Listen live to 1130 NewsRadio Vancouver weather updates every 10 minutes after traffic on the ones. You can also follow Meteorologist Michael Kuss on X and subscribe to breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.