A meteorologist with Environment Canada is offering an explanation as to what caused the strong winds that toppled trees, fed wildfires and may have resulted in the death of a Victoria teen Wednesday.
Winds of up to 75 kilometres per hour howled through Vancouver Island Wednesday afternoon. In Sooke, the winds spread a wildfire and may have brought down a tree that fell on and killed a Grade 8 student in Sooke.
“There’s a big Pacific high-pressure system offshore, which sent winds screaming down our coastline,” said meteorologist Armel Castellan. “It turned scary when those winds turned inland, penetrating deep into our coastline.”
Race Rocks recorded winds of 75 kilometres an hour, while Sheringham Point Lighthouse, just north of Sooke, recorded winds of 65 kilometres an hour.
“It’s been a windy week,” said Castellan on Thursday. “Yesterday those winds hit their peak.”
The B.C. coroner has not yet determined what killed the teen in the Sooke backcountry and an investigation hasn’t determined what brought the tree down.
Castellan noted the region is currently in the midst of a six-year drought which can make trees extremely fragile.
"After a multi-year drought you can expect that trees actually have less ability to withstand strong winds so they actually break at lower thresholds,” said Casellan.
“Right now we're at the start of the drought season, but that being said, we've also had a very strong signal of dryness since mid-February, to the point where it was the driest on record."
Some areas of Vancouver Island have seen as little as two per cent of their average monthly rainfall in June. Port Hardy has received the highest percentage of monthly rainfall with 37 per cent.
