Wildfires 2020
#1
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Location: BC, Canada
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Wildfires 2020
Changing the subject ..................
How's the air quality in Kelowna?
It's the pits here ...... I heard that Environment Canada said in a Twitter that the AQ in the Lower Mainland was "lousy"
OH saw the moon early this morning .......... an orange crescent moon
The sun is trying to shine, but there is this weird orange-y tinge to it all.
Certainly not a day to be outside!
I feel sorry for the folk in Oregon and Washington State.
We've been lucky here in BC this year, touch wood!!!
How's the air quality in Kelowna?
It's the pits here ...... I heard that Environment Canada said in a Twitter that the AQ in the Lower Mainland was "lousy"
OH saw the moon early this morning .......... an orange crescent moon
The sun is trying to shine, but there is this weird orange-y tinge to it all.
Certainly not a day to be outside!
I feel sorry for the folk in Oregon and Washington State.
We've been lucky here in BC this year, touch wood!!!
#2
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Wildfires 2020
A little hazy at the moment but not bad. But looking south its getting worse. The AQI 3 but forecast to get to 9+ by end of day.
Oregon is being hit hard and last I saw fires were moving so fast firefighters couldnt do much.
Not surw how we have gotten so lucky but we have so far with minimal fire damage this year.
I have a cousin in Oregon, they got a flight out and left the state because his asthma was so bad from the poor air.
Vancouver at one point yesterday (havent looked today) had the 4th worst air quality in the world. Seattle, Portland and San Francisco were in the top 3 spots.
Many non essential bussinsses have closed due to smoke so their employees can stay home.
Even Insta Cart in some areas suspended grocery service for safety.
Its certainly bad. I beleive WA state said worst fires in the states history and took less than 5 days to reach that point.
Oregon is being hit hard and last I saw fires were moving so fast firefighters couldnt do much.
Not surw how we have gotten so lucky but we have so far with minimal fire damage this year.
I have a cousin in Oregon, they got a flight out and left the state because his asthma was so bad from the poor air.
Vancouver at one point yesterday (havent looked today) had the 4th worst air quality in the world. Seattle, Portland and San Francisco were in the top 3 spots.
Many non essential bussinsses have closed due to smoke so their employees can stay home.
Even Insta Cart in some areas suspended grocery service for safety.
Its certainly bad. I beleive WA state said worst fires in the states history and took less than 5 days to reach that point.
Changing the subject ..................
How's the air quality in Kelowna?
It's the pits here ...... I heard that Environment Canada said in a Twitter that the AQ in the Lower Mainland was "lousy"
OH saw the moon early this morning .......... an orange crescent moon
The sun is trying to shine, but there is this weird orange-y tinge to it all.
Certainly not a day to be outside!
I feel sorry for the folk in Oregon and Washington State.
We've been lucky here in BC this year, touch wood!!!
How's the air quality in Kelowna?
It's the pits here ...... I heard that Environment Canada said in a Twitter that the AQ in the Lower Mainland was "lousy"
OH saw the moon early this morning .......... an orange crescent moon
The sun is trying to shine, but there is this weird orange-y tinge to it all.
Certainly not a day to be outside!
I feel sorry for the folk in Oregon and Washington State.
We've been lucky here in BC this year, touch wood!!!
#4
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Wildfires 2020
The government website I got the forecast and current form only goes to 10+ once it gets to 10 they stop using numbers and just use 10+, but our area is still good, Vancouver, Vancouver Island, and Fraser Valley not so good, but better than places close to the fires of course.
#5
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Wildfires 2020
Oregon has been very badly hit, I see the Governor is warning that there might be a number of deaths.
We've been saved in BC by having some pretty heavy rainfall at times that has soaked into the ground, but also the restrictions put on people working or going for recreation into the forests, especially with ATVs and machinery since the spring. That cut down on many of the human-caused fires.
It's got worse here in Vancouver during the day. I can smell it, and have trouble breathing, inside the house and with few windows open. I won't be going out!
We've been saved in BC by having some pretty heavy rainfall at times that has soaked into the ground, but also the restrictions put on people working or going for recreation into the forests, especially with ATVs and machinery since the spring. That cut down on many of the human-caused fires.
It's got worse here in Vancouver during the day. I can smell it, and have trouble breathing, inside the house and with few windows open. I won't be going out!
#6
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Wildfires 2020
I guess Oregon is a lot dryer than I thought it was compared to BC, figured they got a fair amount of rain like we did, but guess they are far enough south to miss a bunch more rain.
This is a decent website that is more inclusive of some, 600+ in the scale and well into the Hazardous condition for air quality. That other website only reports major city's so is a bit skewed in making Vancouver look worse than it is.
https://cfpub.epa.gov/airnow/index.c...on=airnow.main
It's slowly getting worse here in Kelowna, but still nowhere near as bad as the coast and Fraser Valley.
But my nose is getting stuffy and I am coughing more, but doesn't take much smoke in the air to send my lungs into a fit, not even sure I could go outside in Oregon and Washington or even Vancouver, so glad to have a/c now, can keep all the windows shut when air outside gets bad.
Current 5 worst places in the western US for air quality, off the charts bad.
This is a decent website that is more inclusive of some, 600+ in the scale and well into the Hazardous condition for air quality. That other website only reports major city's so is a bit skewed in making Vancouver look worse than it is.
https://cfpub.epa.gov/airnow/index.c...on=airnow.main
It's slowly getting worse here in Kelowna, but still nowhere near as bad as the coast and Fraser Valley.
But my nose is getting stuffy and I am coughing more, but doesn't take much smoke in the air to send my lungs into a fit, not even sure I could go outside in Oregon and Washington or even Vancouver, so glad to have a/c now, can keep all the windows shut when air outside gets bad.
Current 5 worst places in the western US for air quality, off the charts bad.
Last edited by scrubbedexpat091; Sep 12th 2020 at 9:47 pm.
#7
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Wildfires 2020
Oregon is still within the Coastal Temperate Rain Forest, just like Coastal BC, and so it gets a reasonable amount of rain. However, I think it has been dryer down there this summer than we've had it in BC, even in Interior BC.
BUT one of the major problems has been the US Forest Service demands years ago that there be no forest fires ........... remember Smokey the Bear???
The forests depend on small regular yearly fires to clear the undergrowth and the dry leaves and timber of dead shrubs and trees. The result of decades of no fires is a mass of fuel on the floor of the forests.
There are times when the First Nations knew/know better than we do ...... they used to hold small controlled burns in the areas where they live/lived
BUT one of the major problems has been the US Forest Service demands years ago that there be no forest fires ........... remember Smokey the Bear???
The forests depend on small regular yearly fires to clear the undergrowth and the dry leaves and timber of dead shrubs and trees. The result of decades of no fires is a mass of fuel on the floor of the forests.
There are times when the First Nations knew/know better than we do ...... they used to hold small controlled burns in the areas where they live/lived
#8
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Wildfires 2020
Fire can indeed be very important to eco-systems. Some species of trees wont even reproduce without fire, Giant Sequoia are one such trees.
Oregon is still within the Coastal Temperate Rain Forest, just like Coastal BC, and so it gets a reasonable amount of rain. However, I think it has been dryer down there this summer than we've had it in BC, even in Interior BC.
BUT one of the major problems has been the US Forest Service demands years ago that there be no forest fires ........... remember Smokey the Bear???
The forests depend on small regular yearly fires to clear the undergrowth and the dry leaves and timber of dead shrubs and trees. The result of decades of no fires is a mass of fuel on the floor of the forests.
There are times when the First Nations knew/know better than we do ...... they used to hold small controlled burns in the areas where they live/lived
BUT one of the major problems has been the US Forest Service demands years ago that there be no forest fires ........... remember Smokey the Bear???
The forests depend on small regular yearly fires to clear the undergrowth and the dry leaves and timber of dead shrubs and trees. The result of decades of no fires is a mass of fuel on the floor of the forests.
There are times when the First Nations knew/know better than we do ...... they used to hold small controlled burns in the areas where they live/lived
#9
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Wildfires 2020
The air is getting worse now here, can smell the smoke but fortunately not as bad as elsewhere in the province yet.
Castlegar and Grand Forks have some really bad air quality at the moment.
Castlegar and Grand Forks have some really bad air quality at the moment.
#10
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Wildfires 2020
The smoke moved in overnight, AQI at 168 currently.
No sun or sky visible today.
No sun or sky visible today.
#13
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Wildfires 2020
https://governmentofbc.maps.arcgis.c...2ee385abe2a41b
Talbot Creek is a 'fire of note' Wildfires of Note
http://bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca/ftp/!Project/WildfireNews/9112020~40038_20%20N51250%20Community%20Bulletin%2 02020Sept11.pdf opens in new tab
Last edited by Siouxie; Sep 13th 2020 at 5:31 pm.
#14
Re: Wildfires 2020
They have smoke from the Pacific Northwest in Alberta today, so we'll get it tomorrow.
"Environment Canada has issued a special air quality statement for Metro Vancouver, showing a very high risk to health due to wildfire smoke from Washington and Oregon."
It's incredibly thick in Vancouver.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...-b-c-1.5722132
"Environment Canada has issued a special air quality statement for Metro Vancouver, showing a very high risk to health due to wildfire smoke from Washington and Oregon."
It's incredibly thick in Vancouver.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...-b-c-1.5722132
#15
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Re: Wildfires 2020
Not sure if you've seen the wildfire map for BC - looks like Talbot Creek is where the smoke may be coming from (plus the smaller ones south of you) - though you could be getting some from California too (the smoke has reached 5,000 feet apparently, and has been visible in Europe)
https://governmentofbc.maps.arcgis.c...2ee385abe2a41b
Talbot Creek is a 'fire of note' Wildfires of Note
http://bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca/ftp/!Project/WildfireNews/9112020~40038_20%20N51250%20Community%20Bulletin%2 02020Sept11.pdf opens in new tab
https://governmentofbc.maps.arcgis.c...2ee385abe2a41b
Talbot Creek is a 'fire of note' Wildfires of Note
http://bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca/ftp/!Project/WildfireNews/9112020~40038_20%20N51250%20Community%20Bulletin%2 02020Sept11.pdf opens in new tab
It;s especially ugly in Grand Forks and Castlegar, currently sitting at 176 in our area. 2020 was apparently the least active fire season for BC in a decade, we almost go through the summer without having smoke issues, almost.
This website gives the smoke forecast with a moving map.
https://firesmoke.ca/forecasts/current/
Last edited by scrubbedexpat091; Sep 13th 2020 at 7:40 pm.