British Columbia faced a dramatic weather onslaught over the weekend as a powerful subtropical storm system battered the province with over 7,000 lightning strikes in just 24 hours, igniting new wildfires across the region and creating travel chaos at one of Canada's busiest airports.
The B.C. Wildfire Service confirmed Sunday that the intense storm activity had triggered lightning-caused fires in all of the province's southern fire centres. In total, 57 new fires were reported between Saturday and Sunday, though 15 were successfully contained during the same period.
"There were lightning-caused wildfires in all southern fire centres yesterday after more than 7,000 strikes were recorded," the wildfire service stated in its provincial situation report.
As of Sunday, British Columbia was managing 172 active wildfires across the province. While the storm brought substantial precipitation to many affected areas—which helped suppress fire behaviour—officials are sounding the alarm about dangerous conditions ahead.
Danger Isn't Over
Wildfire officials warn that hot, dry, and windy conditions are expected to return this week, which could reignite fire activity and create "holdover fires." These are particularly treacherous because heat can smoulder undetected in vegetation until weather conditions become more extreme, causing sudden, dangerous flare-ups with minimal warning.
The weekend's atmospheric fury wasn't limited to the backcountry. Vancouver International Airport experienced hours of flight disruptions as the storm's intensity forced operations to grind to a halt.
Airport Gridlock
The airport suspended all departures from 9:30 p.m. Saturday through 2:55 a.m. Sunday as the storm raged. Arriving aircraft were unable to taxi to their gates, leaving passengers stranded on the tarmac for extended periods with minimal communication.
"We were on the tarmac for four-and-a-half hours and there was very little to no information that was relayed to the pilot that was relayed to us, so they were struggling to get information from the airport authority," said passenger David Cooper, who experienced the delays firsthand.
YVR activated its terminal response team and called in additional staff to manage the backlog and support frustrated travellers. While conditions improved Sunday morning, ripple effects continued throughout the day as flights worked to recover from the previous night's chaos.
"Although the weather has improved, some flights continue to be impacted today at YVR. We are working closely with our airport partners to support recovery of their schedule and get passengers on their way as quickly as possible," YVR officials stated.
This story is based on reporting from Global News. Read the original article at globalnews.ca.