TUESDAY JUNE 2, 2015
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FAMILY DAY
COUNTRY TRIBUTE
A5
A25
Three country music giants coming to Parksville in tribute form.
See photos from Qualicum Beach’s big family celebration.
LOCAL WEATHER
Hot and dry, will continue
May was near record low rainfall, which is leading to water and fire restrictions AUREN RUVINSKY writer@pqbnews.com
After a near record hot and dry May, water and fire restrictions are coming into effect. The rain gauge at the Parksville city works yard registered an average of 47 mm of rain in May over the last 10 years. From April 29 to May 29 this year it measured rain on just three days, totalling 5.6 mm. The nearest official Environment Canada gauge, in Comox, measured a bit more at 13.2 mm, but that still made it the fifth driest May on record. And meteorologist Matt MacDonald said 11 mm of that came in just a few hours, without which it would have been an all-time low. “A lot of stations on the Island broke records in May,” he said, which is due to “a large blob of warm water off the coast.” An El Nino current has now measured half a degree above normal for more than five consecutive months, which he said is quite a big number. “June is usually the cold-low month,” he said, when there can be quite a bit of precipitation, evening out the entire summer, but the long-range forecast continues to look hot and dry, though he admits it is hard to predict with any accuracy more than a few days out. The dryness has been a regular trend locally with January at about half the average and March and April only getting a third. There was almost double the norm in February, but didn’t make up the shortfall. The dryness is resulting in fire bans and water restrictions much earlier than normal. The provincial government imposed category 2 open fire prohibitions across the Coastal Fire Centre this week, covering all crown land, provincial parks, and private land not covered by a municipality. And local municipalities are following their lead. Because the bans can change and vary by jurisdiction, people should always check with their local municipality or fire department. The ban applies to burning any material smaller than two metres in height and three metres in width, burning of stubble or grass, the use of fireworks, firecrackers, sky lanterns, burning barrels or burning cages of any size and the use of binary exploding targets (e.g., rifle target practice). It dose not prohibit campfires smaller than a half-metre high by a halfmetre wide, or cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes. Fines for lighting a fire range from $345 to $100,000 and/or jail time. See WATER RESTRICTIONS, page A4
JESSICA SKELTON PHOTO
RIDING IN STYLE: Zoey Andres and Quinn Proud mug for The NEWS before the Kwalikum Secondary grad parade Saturday where students drove through town in everything from classic cars to boats to the prom at the Civic Centre. See many more photos at www.facebook.com/PQBNews.
ACTION OFF COLUMBIA BEACH
Killer whale saved off shore AUREN RUVINSKY
writer@pqbnews.com
Members from the French Creek Coast Guard Station rescued a killer whale caught in a
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