This story is part of In the Line of Fire, a series from The Narwhal digging into what is being done to prepare for — and survive — wildfires.
When dark thunderclouds build behind Dzilh Yez (Hudson Bay Mountain) in Smithers, B.C., local weather stations capture essential data.
An array of instruments record and transmit vital information to a small team of scientists who quickly interpret what it could mean for wildfires. Is the relative humidity low? Is the storm carrying rain? How hot is it? Are the winds off the mountain moving towards town?
If lightning strikes and thunder shudders through the valley, meteorologists with the BC Wildfire Service use the data to predict whether the storm is likely to spark a forest fire — and what that fire might look like on the ground.
Every morning during the months-long fire season, Matt MacDonald, lead fire weather forecaster with the BC Wildfire Service, examines conditions with his team and hundreds of frontline firefighters.
“We’re doing this whole analysis, essentially putting a story together that we deliver in the way of a fire weather briefing,” MacDonald explained. “We’re continuously updating the forecasts and making adjustments to how we think the weather is going to evolve, and then highlighting the areas of highest concern.”
