Rain and milder conditions have helped temper the Jasper National Park wildfires, but officials say fires are still out of control and the rain is expected to let up on Friday.
The Jasper weather station has been down since Wednesday night, making it harder to know conditions in the town. Northeast of town in Willow Creek, between 10–15 mm of rain was recorded today, and it was forecasted that Jasper would receive about the same amount during the day, said Heather Pimiskern, a meteorologist with Environmental and Climate Change Canada.
"The rain is anticipated to end tonight. And there's a slight chance of some shower activity maybe tomorrow morning in the vicinity of the Jasper area. But unfortunately, that's all that Jasper will receive until maybe Monday when there's an additional potential for some shower activity through the region," Pimiskern said.
"With today’s rain and cooler temperatures, fire activity is significantly subdued. However, it is important to note that the fire is still out of control and significant work remains before conditions are safe enough to allow for limited re-entry into the park," Parks Canada said in a wildfire update earlier today.
"Crews are taking advantage of today’s conditions to make progress on containing the fire and the community, before conditions return to hot and dry."
Temperatures are expected to start rising tomorrow, hitting a high of 16 C. As the weather system currently showering the park moves to the east, a clearing trend is anticipated in the Jasper region that will bring temperatures of around 21 C on Saturday and 26 C on Sunday, Pimiskern said.
On Wednesday the wildfires to the north and south of Jasper were driven by wind gusts of up to 100 kilometres-an-hour, and have now merged together, according to Parks Canada.
The winds yesterday came mostly from the south, Pimiskern said. A low pressure system system that developed in Alberta has shifted the wind to be more westerly, which is expected to stay until the weekend.
"We're anticipating that the winds will remain westerly throughout the next 24 to 48 hours, and could be anywhere between five and 20 kilometres-an-hour depending on the time of day and the the atmospheric conditions at the time," she said.
