A wet July in British Columbia is good for fire season and the weather forecast is predicting it’s going to be wet. I do prefer rain over smoke, moisture is good for my lungs and fires are destructive to health and property.

During the past several years British Columbia has experienced extreme amounts of wildfire smoke as our forests have been burning out of control. Most of the forests have not been well-maintained, growing dense, unhealthy and prone to wildfires when combined with record dryness. Not this July.

Our late spring this year has been generally cool, wet, and snowy with the the effect of making fire danger quite low right now (see graphic from British Columbia Wildfire Service). Blue–very low fire danger–dominates the lower half of the province.

And it appears that the wet pattern in southern BC is not going to end soon.

The latest forecast of accumulated precipitation through July 9, shows continued wet conditions in Southern BC with accumulated rainfall amounts near the Rockies and the far southern part of the province to be 10 cms above normal. And the thirty day forecast encompassing July 7-August 7th continues to be wetter than normal over BC. This should keep down the fire threat. (see graphic below showing accumulated rainfall)

The bottom line in all this is that you can probably “breath easy” regarding wildfire smoke for the early to mid-summer. Certainly, a break that will be welcome with all the COVID-19 worries these days. And healthy precipitation in BC will help keep the Elk River and other rivers high and cool, which is good news for fish and white water boating.

For bikers and other trail users, the excessive muddy conditions will unfortunately continue for a few more weeks.

Source: Cliff Mass Weather