The BC Wildfire Service is forecasting a slow start to the wildfire season with cooler and wetter conditions in June.
The fire hazard is expected to remain low through the early summer in many parts of the province.
However, some regions are expected to experience drier-than-normal patterns, including the Thompson-Okanagan.
“As we trend towards these warmer than normal temperatures, we could see fire activity grow through the latter half of the summer,” said Matt MacDonald, lead forecaster from the BC Wildfire Service.
B.C. has experienced unusually cooler and wetter weather in the month of May with temperatures that were two to degrees lower than normal.
“We haven't seen a very spring like pattern, it's been more of a fall like pattern,” said MacDonald.
The number of lightning strikes, which lead to a significant number of wildfires in the summer, is also down from 16,000 to just 3,000 in May.
B.C. has seen approximately 140 wildfires so far this season, only about 60 per cent of the five year average.