Just how hot and dry could it get in our region come the summer?
Environment Canada is predicting a high likelihood of hotter than normal conditions for BC.
But Chris Cowan, a forecaster at the Southeast Fire Centre, says the real heat comes with a continental ridge as opposed to a Pacific one, and that’s an unknown factor .
The warm, dry winter and spring — a product of an El Nino pattern — resulted in about 35 per cent less snowpack than normal in our region.
Cowan says the summer could see average temperatures go up by two degrees which could mean prolonged spells in the upper 30s, and that means added concerns regarding wildfires.