Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows have officially entered the fall season, coming off their driest September in a decade.
During the first three weeks of the month, both of these cities received only 8.2 millimetres of precipitation. A small fraction of the 117.5 mm that they saw during the same time last year.
In addition to experiencing extremely dry weather, Tuesday also set a record for the hottest Sept. 20 in over two decades, with a high of 28.1 C, according to Environment Canada.
It’s this combination of record-setting temperatures and lack of rain that has caused a recent surge of wildfires in the Lower Mainland, which caused Maple Ridge fire chief Michael Van Dop to institute a city-wide fire ban.
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“It’s still quite dry out there, so people need to be smart about what they’re doing, especially in wooded areas,” said Van Dop.
But, there is some reprieve in sight, with Environment Canada forecasting a 40 per cent chance of showers on Friday morning (Sept. 23) and a maximum daily high of only 22 C until the end of September.
This rise of precipitation and cooling of temperatures is just the start of what the fall season will likely bring the area, along with the wide variety of fall events that are coming up throughout Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.
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