Lightning, wind, high mercury and an alarming drought … The American West, already ravaged by fires, was preparing for the worst, Friday July 16, in the face of a cocktail of weather forecasts conducive to the emergence of new blazes this week-end.

The situation is most worrying in the state of Oregon, in northern California. The “Bootleg Fire”, a fire already bigger than New York City, keeps getting bigger. Dozens of homes have already been destroyed and at least 2,000 people had to evacuate the area in a hurry.

Dry thunderstorms in forecast

Very close to California, the fire also threatens the electricity network of this state and the authorities want at all costs to prevent millions of people from being plunged into darkness, as was the case in previous years when the network was too low. voltage.

To the vicious circle in which the American West is plunged this summer – repeated heatwaves and a drought that transform the area into a powder keg  – should be added a new disruptive element this weekend: lightning. A climate specialist from UCLA University said he was  “quite worried about the dry thunderstorms that could fall on Sunday and Monday” .

Toxic fumes in Canada

The situation is not much better in neighboring Canada. On the menu, heat, fires … and toxic smoke. Air quality alerts have been issued in four provinces of the country.

Authorities also expect high temperatures in the coming days, from Alberta to Ontario, although not as extreme as the 49.6 ° C recorded near Vancouver three weeks ago.