Heatwave!
I opened up the news this morning and was greeted with this.
@LaurieLovesLearning & @torey how are things in your neck of the woods? Record temp broken in Lytton BC!
Comments
-
Well...it is hot and will continue heating up for the next few days. Torey's area is still hotter than here.
We had unusually high temperatures like this a while ago when things were still supposed to be quite cool. This is no different except that I have eggs in the incubator & small chicks to watch for overheating now.
Our high temps here will continue through July 4th.
-
So, just to brighten the mood... I was just listening to a guy who really studies the science of this stuff. Both the odd heat and the odd cool temps in other places are very likely due to solar activity. The bad news.... it may be the beginning of the earth changing polarity! Yeah, I know that sounds totally nuts. But, scientists have been saying it would happen eventually. And, you thought 2021 was crazy!
-
@judsoncarroll4 doesn't sound totally nuts. I've been hearing the same thing.
-
Very bad news this morning. Yesterday a fire broke out in Lytton (Canada's hot spot) and very quickly moved through town. Reporters can’t get close enough for pictures but reports from residents and fire fighters are saying that most of the businesses on Main Street are gone, at least 10 homes, St. Bartholomew’s (the old hospital, now a heath centre) and the Ambulance station. Just devastating for this community. There are about 300 residents right in the village but about 1500 in the surrounding area, that have been evacuated. This fire is unrelated to any that were currently burning in the area and is thought to have been a spark from a passing train that ignited it. It moved so quickly due to the heat of the previous days and the strong wind that was blowing, that the residents had very little time to escape. No reports of any injuries or deaths, thankfully.
At least 50 fires were ignited yesterday as thunder storms moved through the province. The closest one to me is about an hour and a half. We had ash falling here last night and the smell of smoke was very heavy but this morning is better.
Slightly lower temperatures forecast for the next few days.
-
Oh, that is not good news! I know you had concerns about other fires starting from natural causes, and this is a reminder that when it is dry enough, it doesn't take much to start a fire.
Those poor people who lost so much. This is a hard enough time to live through without that too.
I am glad that no lives were lost.
-
Oh that's terrible :,(. I have noticed its been unusually hot here in our area.
-
Just after I posted that there were no fires in my immediate area, my team was called out to a fire ignited by one of last night's lightning strikes. Fortunately, it hadn't gone far and was easy to deal with.
Lytton has not been so lucky. 90% of the town is gone along with infrastructure such the telephone junction station and the BC Hydro sub-station as well as the cell towers. All of that is affecting a much larger area. Even the main bridge (new concrete structure) in town may have been damaged. Lytton is on the Trans-Canada Highway so traffic is unable to get through and must be diverted over other routes.
Only 30C (86F) here today for a forecast high. There is a bit of a breeze so it feels so much better. Breeze is not good for the for the fire situation, though.
-
I'm down in the sandhills for the holiday weekend with family. And, what-da-ya-know... the air conditioner burned out yesterday! Its 95 F here, which is pretty normal for the south in July. The problem is the humidity - 90%. The part to fix the AC may be here tomorrow,... fingers crossed. If not, it will be Tuesday. On the bright side, I bought a lot of really good sweet corn, tomatoes and squash from a local farm. I'll have to wait to fry the squash, but the tomatoes are great with just salt and pepper and the corn is good microwaved, shucks on (not to heat the house).... the fridge has an ice maker, so I'm re-learning why gin and tonic with lime is so good in this weather. Hey, maybe I'll sweat off a few pounds!
-
Here is a picture plus a Google earth screenshot, of the same location in Lytton, that I understand is circulating on Facebook.
@torey Is the fire still burning there?
-
@LaurieLovesLearning The fire is still burning out of control. This picture taken in the village shows very little smoke as it burned so hot and fast that the mostly older wooden homes burned completely, with nothing left to smoulder. But it has moved on and expanded to over 8000 hectares (nearly 20,000 acres), jumping the Thompson River and moving east and northeast.
The latest unconfirmed report is that two people have died. There maybe more as some people are unaccounted for.
I can't imagine the heat the firefighters must be facing on this. Its bad enough dealing with heat from a fire but in these temperatures it must be excruciating. The government weather station was unable to communicate with the outside world but just up the road in Ashcroft, the temperature was 47C yesterday. Its been at least 40C today. Thunder and lightning are in the forecast for tonight in that area.
-
@torey I read about the two that died. That poor son who watched will live with so much guilt. :(
Oh this is sad.
I heard that they have offers to help rebuild and a gofundme in the works. That is good.
I found the town's history interesting.
Please keep us updated.
-
Oh, that is terrible! All those poor people. And everyone suffering from the extreme heat!
As for the science side @judsoncarroll4 , a prof who studies this sort of stuff agrees that it is related to solar activity and also pointed out that the frequency of such extreme weather events over the last century or so has not changed; we are just more aware of things now than in the past.
As for polarity changes, that topic is too complex, tricky, and unknown to be reliably predicted. It could happen; it could not. No one knows. But if it does, that will be a big deal.
-
I'm so sorry. A friend told me that where she is in Ontario, it got up to 50C.
-
@Tave Wow. It makes me happy to have a temp of only 36° and I don't like temperatures over 24°.
That's all I can say.
-
@LaurieLovesLearning I'm not complaining about the Antarctic cold front that just killed my ashwagandha (I think I saw one leaf that made it, so it may come back in the spring). I can handle -3℃ much better than 36℃. I love 20℃.
-
@Tave I hope it recovers.
I think you & I must be much the same as far as temperatures go.
-
@torey I’ve been thinking of you knowing you are in an area with the potential of fires in this extreme heat. Be careful and stay safe! The heat is really getting us down here in a more prairie like setting!
-
We are safe for the time being. Its a lovely summer day here. A high of only 28C today with a breeze. No smoke. I am very grateful. But it is still very hot and windy just a couple of hours south of me. It will only be a matter of time before the smoke reaches us. I am sorry for everyone else who is now under the heat dome that has moved eastward.
More bad news from Lytton that there might be more casualties. But it is still too dangerous for the coroners office, search & rescue teams and the RCMP to go in a do a search.
We are all on stand-by, getting our emergency bags updated and things ready to go on a moments notice. I will be doing a back-up on my computer as soon as I finish on line here.
My husband has gone to work at the Fire Centre. He is an expeditor which means he gets to drive to various locations to drop off supplies at fire camps or to the front lines. He has done this since 2017. It gives me some peace of mind cause he is able to report back actual details of what is happening instead of the news releases which don't really say much.
-
We need a sad button.
On Tuesday we hit 99' in the mts of central PA, with 89% humidity. Yesterday it was 67'. Last night it was in the 40'
-
@bcabrobin such extremes of temperatures.
-
@torey I thought today was our last hot day, but nope, now it's tomorrow. The humidity is high, but the forecast says that there is very little chance of rain tonight. It looks like Monday might be the day for rain & a high of only 20 on Tuesday when we will attempt to go pick strawberries.
I read about the added worry about the missing people. :(
We talked about fires here. If they happened in our very immediate area, we figured it would tend to follow ditches & tree rows this time of year. The crops may be short, but they are still green. Fall would be quite different when crops would be dry. That would be more dangerous.
Our biggest threat is tornadoes & winter weather, and you can always work around winter issues somehow.
Getting your emergency bag ready doesn't sound promising, Torey. Take care & continue to keep us updated as you can. Don't feel like you need to be on here when you have more urgent matters at home. Other things & your safety come first, of course!
-
@torey your community would feel very grateful for having the likes of you and your husband on board in times like this. Go safely and look after yourselves.👍️
This Week's Leaders
Categories
- All Categories
- 35 Our Front Porch Welcome! (Please Read Before Posting)
- 27 Introductions & Region-Specific Discussions
- 355 Educational Opportunities & Resources
- 460 Current Events & Breaking News
- 49 Emergency/Disaster Preparedness & Resiliency
- 1.4K Our Garden: Growing Food
- 1.7K Our Apothecary: Natural & Home Medicine
- 516 The Back 40: Animal Husbandry & Harvesting
- 40 The Bush: Wild Game and Survival
- 530 Our Kitchen Table: Food Prep
- 396 The Homestead: DIY
- 1.2K Personal Journals
- 106 The General Store: Sell, Buy, & Barter