'No precipitation in the forecast for the foreseeable future': Metro Vancouver hits 40 days without rain
Metro Vancouver hasn’t seen a drop of rain since June 15, and it may not see any for a while yet.
“(There is) no precipitation in the forecast for the foreseeable future,” said Bobby Sekhon, meteorologist for Environment Canada.
“In fact, we just continue to build a ridge of high pressure next week and actually get some hot temperatures by the end of next week, but no rain.”
While summers are typically quite dry in Metro Vancouver, Sekhon explained it’s not usually something that happens this early in the season.
“It’s concerning that we’ve gone so long without rain,” he told CTV News Vancouver.
This is prompting fire concerns for local parks, as tinder dry conditions affect much of the Lower Mainland.
“We haven’t seen this kind of drought for a very long time,” said Tom McComb, park operations supervisor for Metro Vancouver Parks.
“Most of our parks right now are moving into extreme fire hazard,” he said. “We’ve asked all our visitors to be very careful in this kind of environment. Certainly no smoking, which is not allowed in our parks anyway, but to be extra vigilant.”
Barbecues and cooking are also banned in municipal parks in many cities in the region because of the dry conditions.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
Humanist group threatening to sue Vancouver over council prayers
The B.C. Humanist Association has threatened legal action against the City of Vancouver for allowing prayers at council, following a similar warning issued earlier this month to a smaller community on Vancouver Island.
LHSC performs a Canadian first in robot-assisted direct lateral spine surgery
Spine surgery may never be the same for people with chronic back pain and other physical ailments.