B.C. weather forecast for dry, warm summer, with increased wildfire threat
While temperatures will be higher across the province, the interior will see the greatest heat
Predicting the weather may not always be an easy task, but meteorologists are beginning to agree B.C. is in for a long, hot summer.
Pennysylvania-based AccuWeather released its forecast Thursday, agreeing with last week's prediction from Environment Canada that, for large parts of B.C., the heat is on.
"Sea temperatures have been averaging two or three degrees above normal across the Eastern Pacific," Brett Anderson, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather told CBC News.
"That's going to have a warming influence on places such as Vancouver, Victoria and even placed further inland."
Anderson says that the higher sea temperatures combined with the effects of El Niño will mean the south coast will be one to one-and-a-half degrees warmer, but things are likely to be more dramatic in the interior.
"It does look fairly dry though the summer and the wildfire threat will be fairly high, " Anderson said.
Nevertheless, while the B.C. Wildfire Management Branch say they do monitor long-term forecasts, their operations are planned on a short-term basis.
"As of right now, we're looking to the immediate future." fire information officer Melissa Klassen told CBC News. "We can always call in other resources if activities pick up."
The season's first major wildfire — at Little Bobtail Lake — continues to burn across 2,500 square kilometres.
With files from Farrah Merali