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Kelowna fire, July 2023 Central Okanagan J, West Kelowna, Kelowna

Out · last detection 17 Sept 2023, 20:31 UTC

The fire started on 1 July 2023 in Kelowna, Canada, and satellites saw it burning for 79 days. Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 12,969 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 5 census subdivisions.

It is the 84th largest in British Columbia since 2016 (of 448 with a page). Number 136 in Canada in 2023, of 489.

Burnt area
12,969ha
official perimeter (CWFIS)
Duration
79days
1 Jul 2023 – 17 Sept 2023
Municipalities hit
5
municipalities
Started on
1 Jul
2023
Heat detections
2,544
in a single hotspot: 504 MW
Danger at start
25
High · FWI index
Energy released
46.8GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

17 Sept 2023
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 1 Jul17 Sept

How it evolved, day by day

11617181920212224252627282923456789101214151617

Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.

The weather it burned in

32°high
55km/h · peak gust
15%lowest humidity

It had gone 9 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 1.8 mm on 19 Sept.

This area had burned before

No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.

What happened to each town

  1. Central Okanagan J
    7,916 ha reached on 16 Aug
    6.3 %
  2. West Kelowna
    4,100 ha reached on 16 Aug
    26 %
  3. Kelowna where it started
    652 ha reached on 1 Jul
    2.5 %
  4. Lake Country
    284 ha reached on 18 Aug
    1.8 %
  5. Tsinstikeptum 10
    20 ha reached on 18 Aug
    6.0 %

Burnt area inside each census subdivision, from crossing the official perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance is from the town centre to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.

The weather day by day

ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, the standard reference for past weather, and the Canadian Fire Weather Index (the same system Copernicus uses), computed by WorldFires from that data. Days after the fire run until the first rain.

Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)

Day High Min. humidity Peak gust Rain Danger (FWI)
1 Jul 22.1 °C 28 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
2 Jul 20.3 °C 15 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
3 Jul 21.4 °C 23 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
4 Jul 23.0 °C 34 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
5 Jul 27.5 °C 15 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
6 Jul 27.1 °C 19 % 16 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
7 Jul 25.5 °C 24 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
8 Jul 29.2 °C 20 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
9 Jul 29.1 °C 19 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
10 Jul 23.5 °C 29 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
11 Jul 24.1 °C 38 % 29 km/h 5.6 mm Very low 3
12 Jul 22.0 °C 39 % 25 km/h 0.5 mm Low 8
13 Jul 24.1 °C 39 % 20 km/h 0.4 mm Moderate 12
14 Jul 27.3 °C 28 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
15 Jul 25.7 °C 26 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
16 Jul 26.5 °C 30 % 35 km/h 0.1 mm High 24
17 Jul 19.3 °C 36 % 54 km/h 1.6 mm Low 11
18 Jul 21.3 °C 37 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
19 Jul 28.4 °C 20 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
20 Jul 27.4 °C 23 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
21 Jul 27.9 °C 25 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
22 Jul 26.2 °C 28 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
23 Jul 26.0 °C 28 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
24 Jul 23.9 °C 31 % 43 km/h 0.2 mm High 31
25 Jul 18.3 °C 35 % 45 km/h 0.9 mm Moderate 18
26 Jul 20.3 °C 32 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
27 Jul 22.8 °C 37 % 19 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 19
28 Jul 25.7 °C 21 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
29 Jul 28.2 °C 17 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
30 Jul 26.0 °C 22 % 36 km/h 0.5 mm High 35
31 Jul 26.4 °C 17 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
1 Aug 27.2 °C 17 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
2 Aug 25.7 °C 26 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
3 Aug 25.7 °C 24 % 18 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
4 Aug 26.3 °C 26 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
5 Aug 29.0 °C 15 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
6 Aug 29.8 °C 20 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
7 Aug 25.6 °C 39 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
8 Aug 23.4 °C 39 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
9 Aug 19.5 °C 48 % 44 km/h 1.1 mm Moderate 14
10 Aug 20.6 °C 47 % 24 km/h 0.4 mm Moderate 15
11 Aug 24.3 °C 33 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
12 Aug 25.6 °C 29 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
13 Aug 29.5 °C 24 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
14 Aug 31.4 °C 22 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
15 Aug 31.9 °C 22 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
16 Aug 30.0 °C 17 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
17 Aug 30.3 °C 24 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
18 Aug 20.3 °C 29 % 55 km/h 1.1 mm High 23
19 Aug 19.6 °C 34 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
20 Aug 22.0 °C 28 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
21 Aug 23.9 °C 32 % 35 km/h 0.3 mm High 26
22 Aug 18.4 °C 60 % 31 km/h 11.5 mm Very low 0
23 Aug 17.2 °C 44 % 38 km/h 1.0 mm Very low 5
24 Aug 18.4 °C 49 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Low 6
25 Aug 23.1 °C 40 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
26 Aug 26.3 °C 30 % 18 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
27 Aug 27.9 °C 28 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
28 Aug 27.5 °C 28 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
29 Aug 26.6 °C 34 % 29 km/h 0.3 mm High 25
30 Aug 19.7 °C 55 % 41 km/h 2.2 mm Low 6
31 Aug 15.4 °C 63 % 24 km/h 5.6 mm Very low 0
1 Sept 19.8 °C 47 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 3
2 Sept 26.0 °C 38 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Low 9
3 Sept 20.4 °C 52 % 34 km/h 1.1 mm Low 8
4 Sept 18.8 °C 53 % 23 km/h 0.6 mm Low 8
5 Sept 20.0 °C 39 % 30 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 13
6 Sept 18.6 °C 41 % 28 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 14
7 Sept 20.4 °C 38 % 18 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
8 Sept 20.7 °C 39 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
9 Sept 24.4 °C 20 % 18 km/h 0.0 mm High 21
10 Sept 25.1 °C 26 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
11 Sept 21.7 °C 47 % 28 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 19
12 Sept 19.6 °C 48 % 35 km/h 0.5 mm Moderate 19
13 Sept 20.1 °C 42 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
14 Sept 22.3 °C 35 % 13 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
15 Sept 25.0 °C 24 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
16 Sept 25.0 °C 24 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
17 Sept 20.7 °C 33 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
18 Sept after 15.8 °C 34 % 36 km/h 0.4 mm High 24
19 Sept after 11.6 °C 60 % 35 km/h 1.8 mm Low 5

Before and after, from space

Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.

Before · 24 Jun 2023
After · 24 Sept 2023

If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.

The smoke

CAMS · Copernicus

On 20 August 2023 the air beside the fire reached 376 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 250: 17 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak376 µg/m³
Days over the guideline23 days
PM10538 µg/m³
Optical depth3.99
293012345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930311234567891011121314151617181920
Good Fair Moderate Poor Very poor Extremely poor

Particles from the Copernicus CAMS model at the centre of the perimeter; these are not measurements in each town. The pale bar is the worst hour, the solid one the daily average.

Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)

Detections table · 2,544Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
⬇ Download CSV Times in UTC. Each detection is a 375 m pixel: a large fire yields hundreds per pass.
Date and timeSatelliteFRP (MW)LatLon

Other fires nearby

All fires in Canada ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Kelowna fire last?
It burned between 1 July 2023 and 17 September 2023: 79 days, according to the dates recorded by Canada’s CWFIS and the heat detections seen by satellite.
How much area did it burn?
The official perimeter mapped by Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) is 12,969 hectares (129.7 km²). Other tallies, such as those of provincial agencies, may give slightly different figures.
Which census subdivisions burned?
The fire entered 5 census subdivisions: Central Okanagan J (7,916 ha, 6.3 %); West Kelowna (4,100 ha, 26 %); Kelowna (652 ha, 2.5 %); Lake Country (284 ha, 1.8 %); Tsinstikeptum 10 (20 ha, 6.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 31.9 °C, humidity dropped to 15 % and gusts hit 55 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 42, class Very high.
Where does this data come from?
From the official burnt perimeter of Canada’s CWFIS (NBAC, Natural Resources Canada) or, for the current season and until NBAC publishes it, the one rebuilt by GWIS (Copernicus); from NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots; and from the administrative boundaries of Canada. It is not an official report.

Where to verify it

A satellite detection is not an official report. Final figures and the fire’s status are published by each country’s emergency service.

Emergency number: 911

Satellite cross-check

Does something look wrong on this page?

This page is built from satellite data and official records, and it sometimes gets things wrong: the wrong dates, the wrong town, two fires merged into one, or something that was not a wildfire at all. If you know this fire first-hand (you live nearby, saw it, fought it or reported on it), tell us what really happened and we will check it.

Report an error
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We will only use your email to reply about this report. Privacy. This is not an emergency service: if there is a fire now, call 911.

Where this data comes from

The perimeter is official: it comes from the National Burned Area Composite (NBAC) of the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System (CWFIS), Natural Resources Canada, which maps it on satellite imagery and publishes it under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Until NBAC publishes the current season, this year’s fires carry the perimeter rebuilt from heat detections by GWIS (Copernicus, CC BY 4.0), which is approximate. Heat detections come from the VIIRS sensors aboard Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20, distributed by NASA FIRMS at 375 m resolution. Census subdivision boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM3 (Open Data Commons Open Database License 1.0). The area per census subdivision is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ slightly from official figures.