A little more cloud this morning, currently just 16.1ºC here, the coolest it has been for what seems like a lifetime! Mainly sunny today, forecast high 31º, so still warm. Not quite as much smoke around this morning, although the distant mountains are essentially invisible. We did have more thunderstorms yesterday afternoon, exactly as predicted, and some nice rain to go with them.
Total fires to date: 785 Active fires: 211, with 33 of those in the past two days. Kamloops district now has 84 fires burning. Val and I were able to watch lightning strikes yesterday just south of the lake here, for about 90 minutes or so. I see this morning that the smoke cloud - fortunately south of us for now - has extended itself very far to the east. Haven't seen it this far previously, so possibly there were a few fires started in that thunderstorm.
Maybe, maybe not. I guess it depends on what we think of as normal. But at least the big heat dome seems to have moved on. We still have the warmest part of the year to look forward to though, so lots of opportunity to get a suntan!
First sunny morning since our one day heat wave(30˚) back in June, 7.8˚ this morning, forecast high today 18˚.
It seems that the lightning we watched yesterday has spawned a new fire at the Cinnemousin Narrows on the Lake, which is just east of St. Ives. Not likely to jump over the lake, so we're still OK for now. One other small fire burning north of us, but very unlikely that it will ever get down this far. The wind tends to move fires to the east and north.
It's 9:38 p.m. as I write. Thunderstorm here right now, about 5 or 6 strikes every minute. No rain, although the radar shows rain at least 50 kms to the west. I just hope we don't get any fires started here this evening. We will be keeping watch. Some of these booms are shaking the house!
We love to watch a thunder storm, but that seems a little too frightening as is everything you are experiencing this Summer in BC.. D
Here on the lower mainland of BC temp's have been back to just slightly above seasonal. Although the fires are raging now in the interior we have been getting the south west flow winds from the ocean so no smoke to speak of yet. But it will come once the winds change, hope things stay stable in your neck of the woods Keith.
Good morning Otto, well I watched the sky intermittently until about 2 a.m. until the lightning subsided. We did eventually get some rain, as the decks are wet this morning. Lovely blue sky to the north east, (sunrise) and the usual long smoke cloud still coming in from the west. Nothing but sun in the forecast today, high of 32ºC. Total fires year to date now 812. Currently burning 210. 26 new in the last two days. Kamloops district now down to 78 fires burning. Prime Minister Trudeau and B.C. Premier Horgan were on TV yesterday discussing the fire situation (among other things) and it was interesting to see the two political leaders agree on something for a change. The town of Lytton, which all but 10% burned to the ground, will be rebuilt with the help of our governments.
I'm sorry to say that the fire situation is getting worse. 822 fires to date. 240 currently burning. 60 in the last two days, so all that lightning we saw last night worked its' magic. Now 92 fires in our district! There is NO relief in the next 7 days forecast. At least 30º+ every day, no rain. Our sincere thanks go out to every single firefighter in this province. It is a tough, filthy, hot job that nobody really wants. How I wish we still had that Martin Mars water bomber here in B.C.
As far as I can tell, there are only 2 Martin Mars water bombers left - non-operational near Port Alberni, BC. I remember several years ago, one flew across the bay below our house at only a few hundred feet above sea level. It was huge and so loud! If you haven't already read what aircraft are being used these days to help fight wild fires, here is a description put out by the BC government. Wildfire aviation - Province of British Columbia
About 4 years ago, when Val was in hospital getting a new knee, there was a gentleman there who used to work for Mac & Blo. He was telling me about the Martin Mars aircraft, of which there were apparently three at one time. I understand that the cost to run one of these monsters was so high that the B.C. Government of the day wouldn't pay for it. I heard it went down to California. Haven't heard anything since. But they sure did carry a huge load of water!
The forest fire statistics are definitely not good this year. Of the 885 fires to date, 246 have started in the last week. 260 are presently burning, 60 started in the last two days. Kamloops district has now surpassed 100 fires with 101 currently burning. The average forecast high here for the next 7 days is 32ºC, which means we will have about 37º at Anglemont at our place. Our lucky friends with the 80 acre property mostly in forest will likely be under 31ºC average this coming week. We are 22ºC here now, some high cloud and surprisingly not that much smoke yet. No further cloud to the West at all, so we will be having another warm one.
Here's a visual representation of what @Keith Elliott is talking about . . . It's 'only' 27C at my place this afternoon but so-o-o dry. Most plants (and I) don't like it a bit!
I won't bother to update the current fire status until tomorrow morning. Maybe by then the crews will have some of the fires extinguished, although with this continuing heat it's an uphill battle. What I will show you is a series of photos I took a few minutes ago of the sun. As the smoke moves past the sun you can easily see the quick changes in the density of the smoke. Photos taken perhaps 10 to 15 seconds apart.
Good morning. Year to date fire total is now 943. 297 fires burning with 48 new in the past two days. That's one new fire every hour. 104 in the Kamloops district. I was looking at the fire map and it appears that the large majority of the fires are currently in a concentrated area of about 10% of the Province. Naturally, that's where we are. Here's three photos taken looking almost directly overhead. Other than the brown areas (smoke) it looks like a nice day in the making. But here is the view to slightly south of west. There's quite a distinct line in the sky where the smoke starts and the second mountain range behind the one that is visible, has done a disappearing act. There's a very light breeze moving east, which is the normal wind direction here. Photos taken just before 5:30 a.m. here.
@Keith Elliott, good morning Keith and Val. I know your not getting many replies on this thread atm, but I think if like me, everyone is just watching in amazement at what is happening there. I think though, I can guarantee everyone's thoughts are with you both. D
Thank you D. I'm not the least worried if there's no replies. All I'm trying to do at the moment is to let everyone know the situation as it evolves day by day. I have a cousin in France, who was totally unaware of the forest fire situation here, until I filled her in yesterday! Their weather is just about the opposite of ours it seems. Somewhat like yours! I surely do hope that you never have to experience one of those heat domes. Reading about it is nothing like living through it.
The heat wave, which will last until tomorrow, is noticeable in the province. The Granada airport this afternoon registered the third highest temperature in all of Andalusia, at 6:40 p.m. the thermometer reached 42.8 degrees Celsius. Beating record
Good evening J, I'm watching all these temperatures in utter amazement. 17°C here today and raining !!! D
We went to the lake today at St. Ives for a dip. Very smoky over there and we actually watched smoke from a new forest fire build considerably while we were there. I think it's the fire at Crazy Creek Gorge and is about 25 Hectares. I bet it's more than that now. There are others in the area, but there's so much smoke in the distance that it's impossible to separate them. There's also a new fire at Oxny Creek, which is directly above (north) of Celista. It appears to be about 12 kms from our place. These areas are quite remote, and essentially only accessible by air. Or perhaps with a 4 x 4 if there are logging roads in the immediate vicinity. I took these a couple of hours ago. If you look just about in the middle of the photos, you can just make out a plume of smoke going up from the fire. As you can see, the smoke accumulation from everywhere else is obliterating all the usual views.
I thought I would add this from moments ago. Torrential downpours and my patio is now a pond and my path is a stream. Everywhere in the US and BC is ridiculously hot and we in England are having so much rain that our gardens are flooding. All so strange!!
Now you have me wondering if the rain is better, or the heat! How about something in between? It's only 32º here now, but the fire situation has worsened. I think we are headed for the lake now.
