Nova Scotia·FORECAST

Kejimkujik area to see mostly helpful weather for fighting wildfires

As the battle against the forest fire in Seven Mile Lake, N.S., near Kejimkujik continues, rain and cooler temperatures may help this weekend.

Slower winds, higher humidity and rainfall should help

Kalin Mitchell · CBC News · Posted: Aug 11, 2016 11:51 AM EDT | Last Updated: August 11, 2016

CBC meteorologist Kalin Mitchell says the coming rain will help firefighters, but it could lead to lightning strikes that might ignite new fires. (Communications Nova Scotia)

As the battle against the forest fire in Seven Mile Lake, N.S., near Kejimkujik continues, let's take a closer look at whether the weather over the next few days will help the efforts of firefighters.

Winds

It's been a breezy week, which isn't ideal for combating wildfires.

On Monday through Wednesday, afternoon gusts occasionally reached 20 km/h to 40 km/h. Today, they are anticipated to be a bit lighter, sustained from the southwest at 10 km/h to 15 km/h. They will be slower tonight and nearly the same for Friday.

The winds have spread smoke from the wildfires across much of the southwest of Nova Scotia. Air quality statements remain in effect and the combination of smoky air, high heat and humidity could make things particularly difficult today on those with respiratory problems.

Humidity

At the start of the week, the winds were coming in from the northwest. This was blowing drier air into the province and resulted in lower humidity levels for the Kejimkujik area. For example, the afternoon relative humidity was between 30 per cent to 40 per cent Monday through Wednesday.

This is the weather forecast for the Kejimkujik area over the next few days. (CBC)

Higher humidity levels are expected today, ranging from 60 per cent to 70 per cent. The more moisture there is in the air, the better it will be for combating the wildfires.

On the downside, the higher humidity will make it feel in the mid-30 C range today and Friday, making for uncomfortable conditions for those battling the fires.

Rainfall

Where's the rain?

Isolated showers are expected today, but there is no guarantee they will occur over the affected areas.

Friday afternoon and evening, more widespread showers are in the forecast. The downside is that the showers on both days may be accompanied by lightning that could ignite new fires.

A further rainfall is in the forecast for the weekend, timed for late Saturday into Sunday morning, which could produce more widespread rainfall amounts exceeding 10 mm. The weekend temperatures are also cooler, in the low-to-mid-20 C range. That's a forecast that could help significantly.