Some rainfall across Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast yesterday provided some relief from the current drought. However, it is not enough and there is warmer weather on the horizon.
That’s from Environment and Climate Change Canada senior meteorologist Johnson Zhong, who says rainfall varied yesterday up and down the area. He says areas along the South Island received up to five millimetres of rain, but it was variable.
He adds, however, the Central and North Island received anywhere between 10 and 20 millimetres and made more of a dent in the deficit.
Unfortunately, the rains will only provide a short relief, and more is needed on a regular basis to curb the drought.
“It’s probably just a very temporary relief. It takes a few systems combined to get enough precipitation,” said Zhong. “It has to be pretty frequent for a couple weeks and the not very good news is it looks pretty dry for the next couple weeks.”
The dry conditions have left the Coastal Fire Centre more vulnerable to fires as fuels continue to be dry. Information officer Nick Donnelly says they hope the rain will ease some of the fires for the rest of the season, but much more rain is needed to make an impact.
“With the rain, we still want to encourage people to be vigilant and be safe out there,” said Donnelly. “We’ve had drought going back to last year.”
Zhong adds warm weather is expected for next week until Wednesday or Thursday, and oceanic temperatures are already high.
He adds that while it will likely be on the lower end of a heat warning, residents should take precautions to keep cool during the week.
With files from Justin Baumgardner, Vista Radio
