Red flag watch: Alberta Wildfire warns of intense, dangerous conditions to come

A red flag watch is issued when there's high fire danger risk due to warm temperatures, very low humidity and stronger winds — and it comes as more thunderstorms are expected.

It’s hot, dry and windy in Alberta — the perfect recipe for fire conditions to blow up.

For that reason, Alberta Wildfire has issued a red flag watch: a rarely-heard-of term indicating an increased risk for fire danger due to warm temperatures, very low humidity and stronger winds.

“We put that in effect when conditions are such that we have crossover — where the surface temperature is higher than the relative humidity, which means fuels are going to dry out really quickly and they’re more susceptible to burning at a rapid rate than if it was a cool, damp day,” said Alberta Wildfire information officer Derrick Forsythe.

“Couple that with sustained winds of 20 to 30 km and that gives us conditions for active wildfires.

Alberta adopted the red flag watch and warning system from the National Weather Service in the United States, and said it’s “intended to provide situational awareness messaging for wildfire personnel and the public that a hazardous fire environment is developing and reinforce the need for heightened vigilance.”

Forsythe said Alberta sees such conditions from time to time during the summer but there’s specific metrics required for a red flag watch.

Basically, it’s a warning to Albertans to be even more careful about fire safety and a heads up for emergency crews to prepare.

“Our moisture is still pretty low, which means that we can get wildfires triggering a little bit easier now than we can, say, if our moisture humidity is a little higher potentially in mid- to late-July. Not that it’s not possible then as well, but this is a concern, especially for tomorrow,” Environment Canada meterologist Alysa Pederson said on Wednesday.