Nova Scotia Forest Fires

[Verdinut]

Last year, I bought two air purifiers, one for the living room and the other for the bedroom. I'm really happy having them since we recently experienced important smog and the incidence of forest fires aggravating the situation.

It is the fine particles, not visible to the human eye (smaller than 0.3 micron), that get deep into our lungs and bloodstream. These fine particles are the main health risk from wildfire smoke. Both of the purifiers which I have use a H13 HEPA filter that is effective in catching these tiny particles. There are several grades of HEPA filters, if you order an air purifier, make sure it's using the H13.

Here is a good description for this type of medical grade filter:

Understanding HEPA Air Filter Ratings & COVID-19

The owner of a leading air filtration company in Austria explains HEPA air filtration ratings and how HEPA filters can help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

www.air-quality-eng.com

 

[Eppie]

A couple of aerial pics of my community right now.View attachment 62697View attachment 62698

Holy Moly! I heard that a section of Peggys Cove Road got washed out so it's only accessible from one direction. Luckily the dam on the St Croix river, near Windsor, didn't breach. We drove through that area a couple of weeks ago on our way back from Halls Harbour.

A friend of mine is on his way to his Margarets Bay property, which is up the road from The Finer Diner, so he'll likely be heading in from Upper Tantalon. They postponed the trip a few days to let things settle.

 

[GO-NAD!]

No trains in or out of Halifax for now.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1683000029429022721

 

[GO-NAD!]

Generally speaking, hurricanes lose strength as they move north over colder water. These water temperatures may be great for swimming, but if we get a hurricane this season, it's going to hold onto a lot more energy than it otherwise would.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1681338788499406856

 

[GO-NAD!]

Some drone video from Saturday evening. The water was much higher Saturday morning. The Sackville River normally flows between the two parallel rows of trees and empties into Bedford Basin, which leads to Halifax Harbour. I live near the top of the hill on the right that you see at the tail end of this clip. It looks like it's all forest, but it's just a well-treed residential neighbourhood.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1682871526792523777

 

[Eppie]

The Nova Scotia government said that according to their modeling this was a 1 in 1,000 year event. They have posted an interactive map showing blocked roads and infrastructure damage. Below is a screen capture of Halifax and the surrounding area.

 

[GO-NAD!]

The Nova Scotia government said that according to their modeling this was a 1 in 1,000 year event. They have posted an interactive map showing blocked roads and infrastructure damage. Below is a screen capture of Halifax and the surrounding area.
View attachment 62721

Heavy rainfall warning for tonight around the Halifax region. Good, we could use a drop of rain.

 

[Eppie]

Heavy rainfall warning for tonight around the Halifax region. Good, we could use a drop of rain.

Little damage in Halifax and Dartmouth but it looks like your area around Bedford and Lower Sackville got hit pretty hard. Four closures alone at Old Sackville Rd and Sackville Cross Rd.

Have to feel bad for the folks along Peggy Cove Rd too on the east shore of Margarets Bay. The road closure looks to be near the start of the road by Tantalon. Zooming in on some maps I found some secondary roads like Old Halifax Rd that leads to Long Lake, but if you zoom in further there is a road that leads to Hubbley. Lord knows its condition and how well it's maintained though.

 

[Verdinut]

Today, there are 407 active wildfires in British Columbia with many out of control. According to some experts, some of those will continue their destruction until the beginning of winter:

BC Wildfire Service

BC Wildfire Service

wildfiresituation.nrs.gov.bc.ca

 

[Verdinut]

In Alberta, there are still 57 active forest fires:

Alberta's carry-over wildfires threaten nearby communities | CityNews Edmonton

Dozens of carry-over wildfires from the 2023 season are still burning in Alberta, with crews working hard to make sure they don’t pose significant challenges in the spring. There are 57 wildfires still actively burning in Alberta, most of them lingering from last year. There have been 12 new...

edmonton.citynews.ca

 

[lovinthehd]

Damn.

 

[TLS Guy]

In Alberta, there are still 57 active forest fires:

Alberta's carry-over wildfires threaten nearby communities | CityNews Edmonton

Dozens of carry-over wildfires from the 2023 season are still burning in Alberta, with crews working hard to make sure they don’t pose significant challenges in the spring. There are 57 wildfires still actively burning in Alberta, most of them lingering from last year. There have been 12 new...

edmonton.citynews.ca

Yes, and we are still getting moderate smoke days here in the Twin Cities. Nothing like the summer and fall, but not at all normal.

 

[lovinthehd]

Yes, and we are still getting moderate smoke days here in the Twin Cities. Nothing like the summer and fall, but not at all normal.

From the Alberta fires particularly or ?

 

[TLS Guy]

From the Alberta fires particularly or ?

Probably, because they only occur when the wind is NW. Not many of those days as we have had warm south westerlies largely and the jet has been missing us. Winter has missed us this year, and we have had less then two inches of snow, that only lasted a day or two. There has been nothing like it since records began here. Nothing remotely like it. It has wrecked the winter sports totally.

 

[lovinthehd]

Probably, because they only occur when the wind is NW. Not many of those days as we have had warm south westerlies largely and the jet has been missing us. Winter has missed us this year, and we have had less then two inches of snow, that only lasted a day or two. There has been nothing like it since records began here. Nothing remotely like it. It has wrecked the winter sports totally.

Yeah pretty different around here too. Hate to say it, but glad I'm old.

 

[GO-NAD!]

I watched a piece on the news last night about the lack of precipitation in British Columbia. The reporter was talking to a climate scientist on a mountain where, at this time of year, there should be 2 metres of snow. The ground was bare. They have drought conditions in the middle of winter. Crazy. Fire season is going to come early and hit hard for them.

Here in Nova Scotia, we had practically no snow until the beginning of February. Then we received about 60cm (2 ft) over a couple of days. We got about 25cm last night. I we keep a good blanket of snow until spring, hopefully we will avoid what happened here last spring.

 

[cpp]

Yeah pretty different around here too. Hate to say it, but glad I'm old.

Where is around here, thanks

 

[lovinthehd]

Where is around here, thanks

Oakridge, OR, surrounded by Willamette Natl Forest....and fires and smoke are all too familiar.

 

[cpp]

Oakridge, OR, surrounded by Willamette Natl Forest....and fires and smoke are all too familiar.

Hey thanks, nice to know a location when members note a " location".

 

[dolynick]

I watched a piece on the news last night about the lack of precipitation in British Columbia. The reporter was talking to a climate scientist on a mountain where, at this time of year, there should be 2 metres of snow. The ground was bare. They have drought conditions in the middle of winter. Crazy. Fire season is going to come early and hit hard for them.

Here in Nova Scotia, we had practically no snow until the beginning of February. Then we received about 60cm (2 ft) over a couple of days. We got about 25cm last night. I we keep a good blanket of snow until spring, hopefully we will avoid what happened here last spring.

It was a rather late snowfall around here out in the Prairies too. It was mid-to-late December before we got any meaningful snow this winter. Then it was almost all melted away (Above zero in January!) and now we've got a little more. It's hard to tell because of the melting (and some rain instead), but I'd say we're nowhere near our usual winter accumulation this year.