Ten times the lightning in western Canada, causing fires Reuters

Moira Warburton

Vancouver (Reuters)-Meteorologists say that the number of lightning strikes in western Canada in the past two days has soared nearly tenfold compared to the same period a year ago, partly because the record-breaking heat wave triggered more strikes over the weekend, which may be further exacerbated. Caused forest fires fanned by strong winds.

Chris Vagasky, a meteorologist at Vaisala, a global environmental organization, said that from 3pm on Wednesday to 6am on Thursday, British Columbia and western Alberta recorded more than 710,000 lightning strikes were higher than the average of 8,300 lightning strikes over the same period in the past five years. The measurement company that collected the data.

The chief coroner of the province said on Friday that British Columbia in the Pacific Province has been recovering from an unprecedented heat wave. So far, the heat wave has caused 719 confirmed deaths, three times the normal rate during the same period.

During the heat wave, the town of Lytton broke Canada’s high temperature record for more than 80 years with a temperature of 49.6°C (121.28°F). The forest fire that started on Wednesday razed Litton to the ground, killing two people. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Vagaski said that British Columbia usually accounts for about 5% of Canada’s total lightning strikes each year, but it reported its annual number in less than 48 hours.

Vagaski said that this number is comparable to “in areas of the United States that are really prone to lightning, such as Texas or Oklahoma, you would usually see it during some larger lightning days.” For British Columbia It is unheard of in a region like the province.

Jonathan Bow, a meteorologist with the Canadian Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, said that a large number of lightning strikes are partly caused by heat waves, which produce a large amount of water in the atmosphere in the form of snowmelt and evaporation of vegetation water.

Humidity contributed to an unusually violent thunderstorm.

Bau said: “We are not in midsummer, everything has dried out,” he added, expecting more lightning over the weekend.

Officials in British Columbia said at a briefing that the strike had caused several forest fires in central British Columbia. As of Friday afternoon, there were 136 fires burning.

Officials said the fire is expected to burn 100,000 hectares (247,105 acres) by the end of the week, which is significantly higher than in previous years-the forest fire season in British Columbia usually does not occur until late July.

More than 1,300 houses have been evacuated, and it is not clear how many people are missing. Officials say the Red Cross is opening a telephone line for family reunions.