Wetter, cooler weather helping wildfire crews across much of B.C.

A turn in the weather is good news for crews fighting B.C.’s wildfires as cooler, wetter weather moves across much of the province.

But is it enough to make a real difference?

1130 NewsRadio meteorologist Michael Kuss points out any rain will help efforts to fight B.C.’s wildfires, but it is not here to stay.

“The wet weather this week across B.C. is pretty widespread, stretching all the way from Peace country in the northeast, across the northwest and all the way down to the south coast. Now, it’s not super long-lived — the system rolls out by Thursday for much of B.C. and then we are back into dry conditions and it heats up. In fact, we could see the hottest stretch of weather we’ve had all summer starting early next week.”

Kuss adds that the cooler, wetter weather pattern also comes with a risk of lightning strikes.

As of Wednesday morning, there were 127 active wildfires in B.C., with the Wesley Ridge fire on Vancouver Island the only one considered a “wildfire of note” by the BC Wildfire Service.

It remains out of control and covers 5.3 square kilometres south of Port Alberni on the eastern shore of Cameron Lake, which has been very dry.

“We will see more rain on Vancouver Island this week in a lot of locations than we saw over the entire month of July. It’s been incredibly dry and, in fact, one of the driest spots in B.C.,” said Kuss.

The provincial Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, Minister of Forests, and technical experts, including from the BC Wildfire Service, are expected to provide an update on wildfire impacts and response across B.C. around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.

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