Normal to well-above normal precipitation levels in May came at the perfect time for Alberta, said Environment and Climate Change meteorologist Alysa Pederson.
WATCH: Thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes, as major wildfires continue to burn near Fort Nelson, B.C., and Fort McMurray Alta.
“If you think about how dry it was November, December, January, February, going from our super, super dry winter into spring, everybody wanted to see a lot of precipitation — or at least normal to above-normal precipitation — just because the soils were already super dry. So getting this precipitation at this time of year is excellent,” Pederson said.Story continues below advertisement
“When we have high temperatures and super dry conditions, that kind of led to that fire season start that we had last year. So there was a lot of concern as we went into this year, but the forecast through the spring was for above-normal precipitation in the province and that is exactly what we saw,” Pederson said.
“If you think about what happened last year, we were hitting 30 degrees for daytime high temperatures at the start of May. And that’s kind of when there’s a higher risk because the trees aren’t green yet and it’s actually quite dry.”Story continues below advertisement
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