Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

SUNNY SKIES AHEAD

Kamloops Fire Centre fire danger rating expected to rise

Jul 30, 2019 | 4:06 PM

KAMLOOPS — Knock on wood, toss some salt over your shoulder, or turn around in a circle three times — however you ward off bad luck, now is the time to do it.

That’s because compared to 2017 and 2018, the 2019 wildfire season has been almost non-existent. But with warm, dry weather on the way, the wildfire danger ranger could be going up in the Kamloops Fire Centre.

Sunny and smoke-free. Four words to describe the summer of 2019 that you couldn’t have used in the past two years. Some of the credit for the minimal wildfire activity this year has to go to the weather.

“It’s actually just been wetter and cooler weather than normal for July,” Hydrologist Jonathan Boyd, with the BC River Forecast Centre explained on Monday. “It’s not necessarily cooler than historical normal going back a long way, but in recent years, it’s a lot cooler.”

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That cooler and wetter July has helped keep the fire danger rating down compared to recent summers.

“Throughout the northern part of the fire centre we have low [fire danger] conditions with patches of moderate,” BC Wildfire Information Officer Kelsey Dunkley said. “In the southern part of the fire centre, we have patches of moderate [fire danger] with smaller patches of high and low.”

There are a wide variety of factors that contribute to the fire danger rating throughout the province; the BC Wildfire Service expects that rating to go up, if the warm dry weather we’ve been expecting comes to pass.

“It isn’t warming up quite as high as we’ve seen in previous seasons, but there’s a drying and warming trend that will be coming by the end of next week,” Dunkley said. “We don’t have as many fires currently, but it’s likely to pick up once that trend starts up.”

With the long weekend approaching, it’s expected more campers will be heading out into nature to enjoy some sunny weather. There’s currently no campfire ban in place, but the BC Wildfire Service wants to ensure anyone who plans to have a fire is aware of the regulations surrounding that kind of burning.

“Make sure [you] keep campfires to half a metre by half a metre, and make sure your fires are fully out before [you] walk away,” Dunkley reminds campers. “For further information, just go to the BCWildfire.ca website.”

For the next week, temperatures are expected to hover around that 28 to 30 degree mark in our area. Perfect conditions to enjoy everything mother nature has to offer, as long as there’s no smoke to keep us indoors.