Residents throughout Greater Victoria woke up Wednesday morning to an eerie orange sky and a fine layer of ash covering cars, patios, and sidewalks.
At first, many thought the ash was blowing north from Mount St. Helens (including us).
On Tuesday, the US Geological Survey reported that strong winds near Mount St. Helens in Washington were picking up loose volcanic ash from the famous 1980 eruption.
Pilots in the area spotted the ash being blown west and northwest, and webcam footage showed it being lifted thousands of meters into the sky.
This sparked speculation that the ash had traveled the 250 kilometers north to Vancouver Island, landing in the capital region.
However, Environment Canada stated that is not the case.
“The ash in Victoria is from the Bear Gulch wildfire, which is burning west of Seattle,” said Armel Castellan, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. “The plume from that forest fire is heading directly north over Victoria.”
The Bear Gulch fire has already burned more than 6,300 hectares, and its smoke has caused hazy conditions across southern Vancouver Island.
While both volcanic ash and wildfire ash can irritate people with respiratory issues, they differ in composition. Volcanic ash consists of tiny rock fragments that do not dissolve in water, resembling ultra-fine sand.
In contrast, wildfire ash varies in shape and does dissolve in water.
Environment Canada points out that resuspended volcanic ash typically does not travel far unless it comes from an actual eruption.
“Victoria is about 250 kilometers from Mount St. Helens,” Castellan said. “That’s farther than I would expect to see ash transported unless there was an actual eruption, which there wasn’t.”
So, while Mount St. Helens was indeed releasing old debris this week, the dust covering BC’s capital city has a closer, more fiery source: the large Bear Gulch wildfire burning south of the border.
