Weather WTF

[jimmy olsen]

49C ... in Canada!?!?!?!?!

It has never gotten that hot in Louisville, ever.

Yeah those are Death Valley type temperatures.

The hottest day ever in Austin, Texas was "only" 44C.

[jimmy olsen]

https://twitter.com/Weather_West/status/1410391512907542530

Satellite view of British Columbia interior confirms that the severe thunderstorms occurring at present are indeed pyro-convective events: wildfire-generated severe storms, complete with abundant lightning and strong winds. Precipitation may be minimal to non-existent

https://twitter.com/COweatherman/status/1410402078946598912

Just truly extreme fire behavior in British Columbia today. 3800+ #lightning events detected by the North American Lightning Detection Network in the #pyroCB since 3pm PT.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-wildfires-june-30-2021-1.6085919

Village of Lytton, B.C., evacuated as mayor says 'the whole town is on fire'

Several out-of-control wildfires burning in other parts of province after heat wave
Bethany Lindsay, Courtney Dickson · CBC News · Posted: Jun 30, 2021 9:02 AM PT | Last Updated: 1 hour ago

Resident Nanette Phillips-Smith livestreamed the situation in Lytton, B.C., on Facebook as she fled the village. The mayor ordered an evacuation as a wildfire swept in on Wednesday. (Nanette Phillips-Smith)

Residents of a village in B.C.'s Fraser Canyon have been told to evacuate the area after a fast-moving wildfire swept in on Wednesday evening.

Mayor Jan Polderman says he told everyone to leave Lytton, a community of some 250 people, as the situation rapidly deteriorated. He signed the official evacuation order at 6 p.m. PT.

"It's dire. The whole town is on fire," Polderman told CBC News. "It took, like, a whole 15 minutes from the first sign of smoke to, all of a sudden, there being fire everywhere."

He said he told residents to head for the nearby community of Boston Bar, and was on his way there himself.

"At the First Nation band office, the fire was a wall about three, four feet high coming up to the fence line. I drove through town and it was just smoke, flames, the wires were down," Polderman said.

Earlier this week, Lytton, about 260 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, recorded the highest temperature ever seen in Canada on three consecutive days, topping out at 49.6 C on Tuesday.

Erica Berg, a provincial fire information officer, said the evacuation order was issued about an hour after the blaze began but she did not know the size of it.

Firefighters were already dealing with another two wildfires in the area. The George Road wildfire, burning south of Lytton, was last estimated to be 350 hectares at 2:26 p.m. PT, and the nearby Conte Creek fire was estimated at 1.5 hectares.

DriveBC is reporting that fires have closed highways to the north and south of Lytton. As of 6 p.m. PT, Highway 1 was closed between Boston Bar and Spences Bridge, while Highway 12 is closed from Lillooet to the junction with Highway 1.

Spreading through Interior
Wildfire crews across the Interior spent Wednesday dealing with aggressive fires in the aftermath of this week's record-breaking heat wave.

A growing number of people were being forced out of their homes and a number of highways were closed as existing fires spread and new ones were sparked in the hot and dry conditions.

The Sparks Lake wildfire, 15 kilometres northwest of Kamloops Lake, is now an estimated 40 square kilometres and has forced the evacuation of more than 160 homes.

The B.C. Wildfire Service says 56 firefighters are on site fighting the blaze, as well as 10 helicopters and two pieces of heavy equipment. Fire information officer Madison Smith said helicopters struggled with the heat on Tuesday, and some were grounded as their engines overheated.

Not far away, the Mckay Creek fire burning 23 kilometres north of Lillooet has grown to 50 square kilometres and is classified as out of control. There are 24 firefighters on scene, along with four helicopters and five pieces of heavy equipment.

Late Wednesday, two new fires were reported north of Big White in the Okanagan, and firefighters were reporting aggressive fire growth and heavy smoke that could be seen from Kelowna, Vernon and other nearby communities.

Together, they are estimated to measure about three square kilometres.

Erica Berg, a provincial fire information officer, said in northeastern B.C., nine wildfires had been reported since lightning storms swept through the region Monday and Tuesday. Berg said there have been 26 new fires in the last two days as the risk across most of the province is rated at high to extreme.

Evacuation orders, alerts
Evacuation orders were issued for several properties in Electoral Area B in the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, as the Mckay Creek wildfire threatened homes on Tuesday.

On Wednesday evening, 136 properties in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District were ordered to evacuate because of the Sparks Lake wildfire. That's in addition to another 27 properties that were placed under evacuation order on Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

Nine properties in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District were evacuated Tuesday out of concern that the Sparks Lake wildfire would threaten homes and other structures. Another 18 properties were put on evacuation order Wednesday morning.

The Sparks Lake wildfire has also prompted evacuation alerts for a total of 421 properties in the Deadman, Red Lake, Tranquille Valley, Vidette Lake, Loon Lake and Hihium Lake areas.

Marshall Potts and Jo-Anne Beharrell, who live about 1.5 kilometres from the fire, were ordered to leave the area Tuesday afternoon.

They packed up their vehicle on Monday night, knowing they'd likely have to leave at the drop of a hat.

The pair are staying with family in Pinantan Lake, about 75 kilometres away, with their two dogs.

"It was very stressful," Beharrell said. "The not knowing and wanting to get back and check on everything is really overwhelming."

They had to leave their cattle behind, but left the gates open so they could get away if the fire comes too close. They also had to leave their chickens and two cats, which they couldn't find.

They hadn't heard anything about the status of their property by Wednesday morning.

Potts, a musician, says the area is a great place to be creative.

"We live in a beautiful part of the world up there," he said. "It's devastating to actually see so much devastation to that natural beauty."

Closure on Highway 97N
Highway 97 north is closed for 59 kilometres between Sikanni Chief Road and Prophet River Sub Road, in order to protect the public from two wildfires near the Pink Mountain area in northern B.C.

"The highway will remain closed there until there's no public safety concern," B.C. Wildfire Service information officer Sharon Nickel said. "We will have personnel on site to continue assessing the situation."

That fire is currently listed at 48 square kilometres and was sparked by lightning.

Nickel said everywhere in the Prince George fire centre is extremely dry right now, and she expects those conditions to continue.

In the Cariboo, a fire sparked Wednesday about 35 kilometres east of Horsefly has led to the closure of the McKinley Lake recreation campsite. Thirty-two-firefighters are responding along with a helicopter.

The wildfire service says the fire is highly visible from the surrounding communities but no structures are currently at risk.

Possibility of lightning in forecast
While the air has cooled off in Vancouver, high temperatures look set to continue in the Interior this week as the "heat dome" moves east, with Kamloops and Kelowna forecast to hit temperatures in the high 30s and the low 40s in the coming days.

Vancouver Island and northern B.C., where fire danger is extreme, have seen lightning strikes this morning, according to CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe.

Those strikes will migrate east today, and new fire startups are likely.

Environment Canada is predicting a chance of thunderstorms throughout the Interior on Wednesday afternoon and evening.

John Hawkings, the director of recreation sites and trails with B.C.'s Ministry of Forests, says despite the wildfire risk, the backcountry won't be closed for the Canada Day long weekend.

"Closing the forest is not as simple as putting up a fence," Hawkings said Wednesday to Chris Walker, the host of CBC's Daybreak South.

"We have thousands of recreation sites and bike parks and places that people get out to enjoy, and it's a healthy activity," he continued. "Closing the backcountry is an extreme measure."

[Barrister]

Are there a lot of climate change deniers in Canada?

Alberta

But I don't think the rest of the country will have climate change as a big election factor.

Not climate change deniers (though we have a few), but just not a priority.  We did just go through a global pandemic which might be on voters minds...

[Barrister]

Hottest day ever for Edmonton was 37.2c

Current temperature is 35.7c, with an estimated high of 37c

We could break the record!

If not today, then maybe tomorrow where it's also forecast to hit 37c.

Missed it by that much!  Only hit 37.0 today.

Maybe tomorrow we can break the record!

[Jacob]

Well, let me qualify that.  It certainly will not be important to people who will be voting Conservative.  It will likely be a high priority for everyone else.  It will be interesting to see if the Cons get enough vote splitting in key ridings.

I can tell you that it's put climate change and climate policy as a pretty serious topic of conversation in my household and immediate circle.

[Jacob]

I expect we'll have an unpleasant season of forest fires ahead of us as well.

[Syt]

Lytton which set the heat record ...

[viper37]

Some trees are still standing, that was a very quick fire. damn.

[Syt]

I've read that apparently hundreds of people died durng the recent heatwaves in the U.S. and Canada. With the forest fires it barely makes the news over here. Is it big news in your areas? Or is this just a footnote these days?

"Hundreds died in the recent heatwave and several villages were eradicated by fires. And now: sports."

[crazy canuck]

Well, let me qualify that.  It certainly will not be important to people who will be voting Conservative.  It will likely be a high priority for everyone else.  It will be interesting to see if the Cons get enough vote splitting in key ridings.

The Cons will lose this one, thanks to their complex carbon pricing scheme. But the leader will get the blame, he'll be booted from the party and Mad Max will make a comeback.

Is that what you are hoping for, or are you describing a worst case scenario?

Are there a lot of climate change deniers in Canada?

Alberta

But I don't think the rest of the country will have climate change as a big election factor.

Not climate change deniers (though we have a few), but just not a priority.  We did just go through a global pandemic which might be on voters minds...

Let's not forget that at the Conservative Convention the party defeated the motion that said climate change is real.

I've read that apparently hundreds of people died durng the recent heatwaves in the U.S. and Canada. With the forest fires it barely makes the news over here. Is it big news in your areas? Or is this just a footnote these days?

"Hundreds died in the recent heatwave and several villages were eradicated by fires. And now: sports."

It is big news here.  And now so is the large number of wild fires (more than 300) we are dealing with. Record temperatures are expected for the interior of BC again this week.  This summer is very bad.

[Malthus]

I wish we had a functioning federal Green Party in Canada. The current one appears to be imploding, just when large numbers of the public are becoming forcibly reminded of the importance of global warming.

[HVC]

Tornado hit barrie yesterday (an hour or so north of toronto) went for 5km. No deaths as far as i've heard.

[crazy canuck]

I wish we had a functioning federal Green Party in Canada. The current one appears to be imploding, just when large numbers of the public are becoming forcibly reminded of the importance of global warming.

They way things have worked out I am thankful there is not going to be as much a split of the vote amongst the parties that will take it seriously.  The Liberals are going to have to explain what they have done substantively since 2015 to deal with the problem.   Big opportunity for the NDP.  Big challenge for the Cons.

[mongers]

Getting quiet hot* here. 






* as in the English 'hot' so maybe 33C today.

[crazy canuck]

A fire in BC's wine region quickly grew to 700 hectares yesterday afternoon.  High temperatures and no prospect of rain make that fire very scary for the Southern Okanagan. 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/osoyoos-wildfire-1.6109170