Hazy skies have plagued Nanaimo for the past few days, turning the sun and moon red as smoke drifts in from wildfires across B.C. as well as fires from Washington and Oregon. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

rain relief

Wet weather relief possibly in sight for drought-stricken Vancouver Island

Oct 18, 2022 | 4:32 PM

NANAIMO — Rain in the forecast for the Mid-Island is a welcome site after months of drier-than-usual conditions extending and increasing watering restrictions.

Coastal Fire Centre staff are keeping a close eye on the forecast, with rain and lowest temperatures expected by Friday and possibly extending into next week.

Fire Information officer Marg Drysdale said despite the wet weather in the forecast, they know things can change quickly.

“It’s always shaky to look at a forecast more than three days out, so I would not predict it at this point. What we’re going to do, is wait and see what kind of rain we’re going to get in the gauges, what hits the ground and where.”

However, she is hopeful they get some relief from prolonged dry conditions.

eras tour

'Really magical experience:' Nanoose school raffling Taylor tickets to build outdoor space

1h ago

still closed

London Drugs probes if personal data was breached in cyber incident that shut stores

4h ago

guilty

Prolific offender guilty of fentanyl trafficking following significant south Nanaimo bust

7h ago

“We are very excited to be seeing some of the rain coming in. Our people have been fighting fires since the beginning of this season and they are getting quite fatigued as well.”

But until that water hits the ground, current restrictions remain in place for the Coastal Fire Centre area.

Many areas across the province are still in the high to extreme danger category.

“Campfires are still allowed, and we really remind people to be very cautious with them,” said Drysdale. “They are a half metre by a half metre in size and people need to have the means to put them out and monitor them at all times.”

Drysdale doesn’t expect those fire prohibitions to be lifted anytime sooner than their current re-evaluation date of Oct 28, unless we get a few days of serious downpours.

Despite a summer and fall full of heat records around the province, Drysdale said it’s not that unusual of a weather pattern for this time of year.

“Since 2003 there have been eight times when category two has remained in place right until the middle of October. This prohibition of category two and category three will remain in place until Oct. 28th, and at that time, they will either extend it or lift it. But right now, it definitely continues to be in place and only campfires are allowed at this point.”

So far this year, B.C. has had more than 1,700 wildfires with at least 50 sparked in the last week or so.

As of publication, there were 13 fires currently burning on Vancouver Island, five of which were marked as being out of control.

Local news. Delivered. Free. Subscribe to our daily news wrap and get our top local stories delivered to your email inbox every evening

info@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @NanaimoNewsNOW

With files from Jon De Roo, 97.3 FM The Eagle