First fire, now floods: B.C.'s climate-change-fuelled extreme weather events are connected.
With intense heat comes wildfires – and with wildfires come changes to the soil and vegetation that can exacerbate the effects of heavy rainfall.
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Bridges were washed out, and highways were cut off by multiple mudslides and flooding. Stranded motorists were evacuated by helicopter. At least one person has died.
It’s all because of heavy rainfall from a phenomenon known as an “atmospheric river.”
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What is an atmospheric river?
It is an intense and narrow band of moisture-laden air commonly associated with mid-pressure cyclones that bring heat and moisture from the tropics to the poles.
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They’re long (more than 2,000 kms), narrow (up to a few hundred kms wide) and can be up to a few kms deep.
According to a Journal of Hydrometeorology study, the passage of an atmospheric river over a coastal site takes on average 20 hours.
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A combination of factors conspired to make this latest atmospheric river over B.C. so dramatic – the event lasted roughly three days; the volume of water vapour in the moisture corridor; and a La Nina weather pattern known to create jet stream conditions.
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Atmospheric rivers “can be extreme but they’re not unforeseeable,” says Joanna Eyquem, a managing director at the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation.
“We know they’re going to happen more frequently, so we need to move into emergency mode.”
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