Friday cold front could bring gusty winds to BC fire fight

Aug 17, 2017 | 3:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — A cold front moving into the Kamloops area tomorrow could have a big impact on the wildfire fight.

Environment Canada Forecaster Jennifer Hay says the system could bring rain, strong winds and possibly lightning.

“We’re thinking the primary feature is probably the wind, which is going to have some effect on the fire forecasting and the fighting that’s going on with that,” said Hay.  

“We’re expecting west or southwest winds, 30 up to about 50 (kilometres per hour), and then if you had a thunderstorm come through, we could even get some stronger gusts associated with that.”

While there is a 60 per cent chance of rain, Hay predicts only about a 20 per cent chance of an accompanying thunderstorm.

“It’s really hard to predict exactly where those strikes will hit, or if they’ll develop at all. But this is quite a strong front, so as it’s coming through, it looks like it will develop somewhere. Whether it hits exactly into Kamloops or not is uncertain at this point.”

The system is predicted to move through relatively quickly, returning the area to sunny and dry conditions for the weekend.

“It moves through, we’ll probably see a couple days of slightly cooler air because we’re behind a cold front. But really, it drops to 27 from about 30, and then it pops back up by the weekend again into the low 30s.”