Weather conditions expected to fuel active wildfire season in southern Alberta

Brendan Coulter · CBC News

· Posted: May 17, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Heavy rainfall this week has brought down the contiguous wildfire hazard successful confederate Alberta, but unsafe conditions are inactive expected successful the months ahead.

Environment and Climate Change Canada is forecasting above-normal temperatures crossed the full state done October.

And portion overmuch of bluish Alberta is expected to invited above-average precipitation, below-average precipitation is predicted crossed overmuch of confederate Alberta. 

"If that forecast is correct, we could person occurrence problems," said Thompson Rivers University occurrence absorption adept Mike Flannigan, adding it doesn't instrumentality agelong aft rain for the occurrence information to prime up again.

"I person a saying, 'Give maine a week of warm, dry, windy weather. I tin springiness you a raging inferno,'" helium said.

Most of the Alberta wildfires sparked truthful acold successful 2025 have occurred north of Edmonton, according to the province's wildfire status dashboard.

But Natural Resources Canada predicts the occurrence danger will displacement to confederate Alberta by August.

"It's telling america that it's going to beryllium warmer and drier crossed the southbound and it's looking similar it's going to beryllium benignant of an mean twelvemonth for us, you know, successful the bluish parts of the province," said Derrick Forsythe with Alberta Wildfire.

He noted the existent long-range forecasts aren't "out of the ordinary."

'Jasper truly made it deed home'

Fire bans in immoderate confederate Alberta municipalities are nary longer successful place after they welcomed rain showers this week. Lethbridge's occurrence prohibition was lifted, portion Vulcan County's was moved to a occurrence restriction.

Fire advisories and restrictions stay successful spot successful immoderate confederate Alberta municipalities, including successful Rocky View County, wherever occurrence main Ken Hubbard is promoting FireSmart practices.

"Part of that is removing combustible barrels arsenic good arsenic grasses, scrubs, immoderate logs, branches, twigs and needles that are wrong 10 metres of buildings," helium said.

A occurrence advisory was in spot for Canmore, wherever occurrence main Ted Ruiter is preparing for the summertime occurrence season, but has since been lifted.

Work connected the Bow Valley assemblage fireguard is inactive successful progress. Trees are being removed successful an country stretching from the eastbound gates of Banff National Park to Dead Man's Flats to make a thinned-out wood portion astir Canmore. 

The municipality is besides pushing residents to follow FireSmart practices, similar pruning trees astir homes and removing wood chips. 

"We're not ignorant to the information that we're surrounded by this beauteous forest. And it does contiguous immoderate challenges from a clime alteration constituent of presumption arsenic good arsenic a wildfire constituent of view," said Ruiter. "Jasper truly made it deed home. It's a world now. And that was beauteous close."

Several wildfires converged connected the assemblage of Jasper past July, destroying one-third of the structures successful the historical townsite and forcing residents and tourists to flee. The harm was estimated astatine $1.23 billion.

Ruiter besides said Canmore had a debased snowpack this year, which tin pb to much wildfire activity.