Lightning strikes fuel wildfires in Canada, more than 150 wildfires burned by this lightning.
Record-breaking heatwave in British Colombia from last few days. Dozens of new wildfires were confirmed in British Columbia on Thursday, and authorities aren’t expecting much relief in the coming days.
One factor is the roughly 12,000 lightning strikes reported in the province that day, many of which were near communities.
There were 136 active wildfires throughout B.C. as of Friday afternoon, about 12,000 lightning strikes had been recorded the previous day. Most of which are in the southeastern Interior, Cariboo, and Prince George areas.
The evacuation in overnight
Overnight evacuation orders were issued and later canceled for some Interior City neighborhoods as flames from fires in the area moved closer to homes.
The fire in the village, which is home to about 250 people and is about 260 kilometers (160 miles) northeast of Vancouver, forced many residents to leave without their belongings Wednesday night.
An extensive increase in temperature is registered.
Earlier this week, Canada recorded the highest ever temperature of 49.6C(121.3F) on Tuesday.
“Within about 15 minutes the whole town was engulfed in flames,” said Mayor Polderman
The service said there will be significant fire activity across the province in the next 12 to 24 hours. Forests in B.C. are extremely dry from a heatwave that raised temperatures to 40 degrees Celsius in much of the fire-affected area, and while things have cooled down a bit along the west coast, highs are still recorded of 30 degrees indoors.
Over the next seven days, the service warned, the forecast includes continued temperatures above the season, plus increased winds that could fuel fires.
Damage it is causing
The strikes sparked several wildfires in central British Columbia, with 136 fires burning as of Friday afternoon, B.C. officials said at a briefing.
The fires are expected to burn 100,000 hectares (247,105 acres) by the end of the weekend, authorities said, a figure significantly higher than at this point in previous years: B.C. Typically, the wildfire season does not increase until the end of July.
More than 1,300 homes have been ordered evacuated and it is not known how many people are missing. The Red Cross has a phone line for family reunification, authorities said.
At that time, any fatalities will be confirmed. As of Friday at 1:30 p.m., there were reports of two deaths in the village.
How long is it going to last?
Temperatures have dropped in coastal areas of Canada and the northwestern United States, but there hasn’t been much respite for those living in the interior regions.
The weather system is now moving east over the prairie provinces of Canada: Alberta and Saskatchewan and parts of Manitoba have been placed under heat warnings.
This hot air mass has lasted so long because it is strongly deflecting the jet stream, a fast-flowing stream of air high up in Earth’s atmosphere, northward and around itself, which in turn keeps the heat dome in place.
The wildfire is going to continue and will take down many villages and cities but the major concern is the safety of people.
What is the situation in Canada?
People calling this wave The Monster Heat Wave, Colombia which is known for its moderate temperature not extremely cold in the winter, nice and pleasant in summer.
A heat wave that shattered historic high-temperature records in Canada and the US has left a rising death toll in its wake as officials brace for warmer weather, the threat of wildfires and thunderstorms.
At least 233 people died in the Pacific Coast province of British Columbia between Friday and Monday. Canada’s deadly heat wave, the most severe on record, is moderating slightly, but it still appears this week will erase the high temperature marks set decades ago, a government climatologist said Wednesday.
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