Metro Vancouver’s ‘driest September’ has extended wildfire season

Record-setting lack of rainfall over the past month in B.C. means no end in sight for this year’s wildfire season, officials said Tuesday, as drought conditions have been a boon for farmers and restaurant patio owners.

Abbotsford International Airport recorded 0.9 millimetres of precipitation last month, “the driest September on record,” according to Alyssa Charbonneau, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECC).

She said the Abbotsford weather station typically records about 75 millimetres of precipitation in September. ECC records for the Abbotsford station started in 1945.

The weather station at Vancouver International Airport recorded seven millimetres of rain in September, its seventh driest September since 1896 and five millimetres less rain than fell in Las Vegas during the same time period.

The hot, dry conditions have extended the wildfire season across the province, according to Brianna Hill, an information officer with the B.C. Wildfire Service.

“There is still no season ending weather in the forecast,” Hill said in an email.

“Many locations have been weeks without significant rainfall, while setting temperature records leading into October.”

While current conditions haven’t significantly affected existing wildfires, Hill said the B.C. Wildfire Service was concerned about the impact that the extension of summer-like conditions and widespread drought could have on the potential for new wildfire starts.

“Forecasters will be watching for significant widespread precipitation and freezing temperatures as these will naturally draw the season to a close,” Hill said.

That shift in weather patterns has had major impacts on the food and services farms provide to the community, as well.

“We’re seeing a big shift in terms of ticket purchases,” said Amir Maan of Maan Farms, which offers a number of seasonal farm experiences for the public, including “the scariest corn maze in Canada” in addition to traditional farming. He said ticket sales for fall events have been slow so far this year, given the summer temperatures that extended through September.

“One hundred per cent, people have not shifted yet” into fall patterns, Maan said.

He said this year’s weather weather patterns have affected crops, too.

“This dry spell has been immaculate — it’s been so good for the quality” of pumpkins, he said.

At the same time, he said, the exceptionally wet spring affected the quantity of pumpkins farmers could grow.

“Our spring was insanely wet,” he said. “Tons of farmers were not able to go out into their fields and plant pumpkins like they did in previous years.

“Pumpkin pricing is higher than in previous years because we don’t have the quantity.”

The Level 4 drought affecting southwestern B.C. is a result of a “persistent ridge of high pressure” that has hovered over the region for most of September and continues, said Charbonneau.

At Level 4, conditions are extremely dry and adverse effects to socio-economic or ecosystem values are likely, according to a recent press release from the Ministry of Forests.

B.C. ranks drought levels from zero to five, with Level 5 rated as the most severe with adverse effects to socio-economic or ecosystem values being almost certain.

Charbonneau said that broadly speaking, heat and drought are being made worse by climate change.

“Nothing has really shifted us into that fall pattern where we get into the storms,” she said of the current weather pattern.

In the short term, local businesses have reaped rewards from summer’s month-long extension, though not without recognition that climate change has played a role in the boost to business.

Dan Webster, a co-owner of Container Brewery in East Vancouver — which has a large, pandemic-approved outdoor patio — said business this past September was “pretty awesome.”

He was quick to point out that while he appreciated the additional business, he was aware it it was a short-term gain that was a result of climate change-induced weather.

“It’s not normal,” he said.

ngriffiths@postmedia.com

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