Thursday, July 6, 2023 edition - Summers with half the rain

Thursday, July 6, 2023 | ⛅️ High 26C

Good morning!

I have only good memories of summer rain. I grew up on a grain farm in the north where no one irrigates anything, but where plants still need water. Summer rain was almost always celebrated. I think my Dad once called a well-timed dousing “money falling from the sky.”

The first of today’s stories is about those summer rains in the Fraser Valley—and their slow disappearance.

Join our newest members Barbara and Desmond and support local journalism by becoming an Insider. And thank you to all our subscribers who sent in recommendations of places to see and eat in Chilliwack!

WORTH KNOWING

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope

⚠️ Here’s the current smoke forecast / Check the BC Wildfire Dashboard here

🚘 Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google, and find DriveBC’s latest updates.

NEWS

DATA: Fraser Valley summers are twice as dry than 30 years ago

If summers seem particularly dry these days, that’s because they are.

The amount of rain falling each July and August in the Fraser Valley has dramatically declined over the last two decades, according to six decades of weather statistics obtained and analyzed by The Current.

The cause is uncertain—although global climate change would seem the most likely culprit, other data suggests that may not be the case.

With no clear cause, we don’t know if the current trend will continue. But what is certain is that at the moment, summer rain is becoming scarcer, with implications for everything from fish to agriculture to the supply of water and your property tax bill.

• Today, Tyler reveals data that shows just how rapidly the rain has disappeared in the summer.

Need to know

🏆️ Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce’s CEO made BC Business’s 30 under 30 list [Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce]

🔥 Campfires will be banned in the Lower Mainland starting at noon on July 7 [BC Wildfire Service]

🚴‍♂️ LEPS is hosting a pop-up bike fixing shop in Langley [Langley Advance Times]

🌲 Could 2023 be the hottest year on record? [CBC]

👨‍✈️ A small plane whacked a lamppost with its landing gear in Chilliwack [Chilliwack Progress]

⚡️ Hot, dry weather—and the lightning that comes with it—is concerning BC wildfire officials [Vancouver Sun]

👉️ The former chief of Cheam First Nation died last week; she is remembered for her passion and commitment to her people [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

➡️ An “aspiring serial killer” was responsible for the murder of an Abbotsford man in 2021 [Mission Record]

🏊️ Teens can swim for free after 4pm on select days at Chilliwack pools this summer [Fraser Valley Today] (If, of course, those pools are open) [FVC]

🚓 A woman who crashed a stolen rental car into an Abbotsford police cruiser received one year of probation [Abbotsford News]

🥵 Seniors are having difficulty accessing places to escape the heat during the Fraser Valley transit strike [Chilliwack Progress]

🚒 Langley’s new firehall will be built on the site of an old gravel pit [Langley Advance Times]

🚘️ Chilliwack RCMP arrested 12 impaired drivers in one night last week [Chilliwack Progress]

🐃 A Langley farm is helping people recover from addiction—and raising bison and water buffalo [Langley Advance Times]

📷 CURRENT CAM: Congrats to Ed Penner, who was the first to identify the West Coast Express station in Mission as the location of yesterday’s Current Cam photo.

📈 The Fraser Valley's new inaugural Digital Marketing Conference is happening this September. Get your ticket and check out this a prime opportunity for professional growth.*

*Sponsored Listing

The Agenda

Lake Errock developer will pay for planning company

The Fraser Valley Regional District doesn’t have the staff capacity to review a large proposed development near Lake Errock. To make up for that shortfall, the FVRD will hire a contractor using money provided by the potential builder themselves.

The potential project could see more than 400 homes built on the site of an existing gravel pit near the lake. It could also 1.2 hectares of “employment lands.” The project could transform the tiny surrounding community, and evaluating the application will be a complex endeavour, FVRD staff say in a new report. (The Current wrote about the plans last November.)

To make up for the shortfall, the FVRD is set to take around $250,000 from the proposed developer (GWEB Holdings) and use it to hire Urban Systems, a third-party planning company, to consider the plan and its implications. FVRD staff write in their report that accepting money from the applicant “may raise concerns about bias and reduce community confidence in the planning process.”

To avoid such bias, staff say the money for the project will be collected prior to the work beginning, and will not be returned “while the work is in progress.” They say the FVRD will have sole control of the planning work, with the developer granted no special rights or access.

SPONSORED BY FORT LANGLEY JAZZ & ARTS FESTIVAL

Jazz legends open Fort Langley Jazz Fest

Kick off the 2023 Odlum Brown Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival with a concert you won’t forget, featuring Phil Dwyer’s Connections Quartet.

Phil Dwyer’s Connections Quartet brings together premier musicians in a one-of-a-kind concert including JUNO-award winner, saxophonist and pianist, Phil Dwyer; Juno-award winner Brad Turner on trumpet and piano; renowned international drummer Alan Jones; and Phil’s son, Ben Dwyer on bass.

The quartet will perform new and other works from over 40 years of playing in various configurations together. This illustrious group of artists will perform as two trios and a quartet, all in one with Phil and Brad taking turns at the piano with their alter egos performing on saxophone and trumpet.

Thursday, July 20, 7-10pm at Chief Sepass Theatre! Get your tickets today!

NEWS

Transit mediator’s final report expected this week

The special mediator tasked to resolve the Fraser Valley transit strike has met with both sides and is expected to submit his final recommendations to the province this week.

BC Transit’s Rob Ringma delivered that news to Mission council at its Tuesday meeting.

• Joti writes about the (potential) beginning of the end of the transit strike.

Throwback Thursday

The hotel at Harrison Hot Springs in the 1910s was a hotspot for tourists looking to get away from the bustle of the growing towns in the Fraser Valley. These travellers enjoyed the journey in their newfangled (at the time) automobiles.

🗓 Things to do

Ongoing, July 6 to 12

👩‍🎨 Art exhibition: Stitched, a fibre arts exhibition at the Kariton Art Gallery, will run from Saturday, July 8 to Saturday, July 29. It will feature embroidery, quilting, knitting, and macrame. Find more info online.

🎺 Arts festival: The Harrison Festival of the Arts will start Friday, July 7 and run until July 16. Find the schedule here.

Thursday, July 6

🎵 Concert: The Jam in Jubilee, a series of concerts in Jubilee Park in Abbotsford, starts this Thursday, July 6 at 7pm. The free event will run every Thursday in July. Find more info online. 

Friday, July 7

🎸 Women’s jam session: Singer-songwriter Taysey Taylor leads a weekly jam session for women at the Metis House in Chilliwack. Bring your voice, guitar, or both to learn and practice on Friday nights. Find tickets online.

💃 Drag show: Bricklayer Brewing in Chilliwack is hosting a drag show with “beach party vibes” on Friday, July 7. Find more info and tickets online.

🎙️ Music: Country-roots singers The Goddamsels will play Corky’s Pub in Chilliwack on Friday, July 7 at 8:30pm. Find tickets online.

🌃 Night market: The Fort Langley Night Market is starting up again this summer. Find it on Friday nights starting July 7 at 5pm until the end of August. Details online.

⚽️ Soccer: Vancouver FC will face off against the HFX Wanderers FC at the Willoughby Stadium on Friday, July 7 at 7pm. Get tickets starting at $15.

Weekend

➡️ Members have access to our full list of more than two dozen things to do over the next week.

Have an event to tell us about? Fill out this form to have it highlighted here.

Want to promote your business to 30,000+ engaged locals?

Contact our partnerships team today

Have a tip? Email us