![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976926.1721883767!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
DEVELOPING Jasper wildfire burns buildings, while poor air quality forces some fire crews out
A fast-moving wildfire has hit Jasper, Alberta, destroying buildings and chasing some wildland firefighters away with dangerously poor air quality.
Canadians can expect a "fickle fall" this year as the season is forecast to start off chilly before above-normal temperatures lead the country into winter, a prominent forecaster predicts.
The Weather Network says winter may appear to taunt Canadians across the country as they face periods of very cold weather during the fall, but the season is expected to end on a mild note because a jet stream in the Pacific Ocean, called El Nino, is expected to be two degrees warmer than usual.
"Our forecast team at The Weather Network is seeing a fickle fall ahead for most Canadians, and it's all due to El Nino," chief meteorologist Chris Scott said in a phone interview.
"Generally in most El Nino falls, we get an early blast of cold weather in the middle of fall and as you're experiencing, it can be a bit of a slap in the face. But then the weather pattern flips over later in the season."
Scott said the forecast isn't the best for ski hills in British Columbia because the El Nino jet steam will persist from fall into winter "and that doesn't give the best pattern for getting a lot of snow in the mountains."
The fall forecast also doesn't help the wildfire season on the West Coast at the start of the fall because the atmosphere is expected to be drier than normal and significant rain isn't expected until the middle of the season, Scott said.
The Weather Network is also predicting that a few snowstorms will rage across the Prairie provinces in the middle of fall, cutting short the region's harvest season.
"However, as we flip towards the latter half of November into December, when we typically can get some of our coldest weather of the entire year ... it looks like the season should balance out to be slightly above normal in the Prairies," Scott said.
Similarly, Ontario and Quebec are expected to see a nasty push of cold air in October but winter is forecast to begin on a mild note, he said.
"We think the fall colours should be quite vibrant but things turn a little bit rotten and cold in the middle of October and will short circuit some of the really nice leaf-seeing time of the fall season," he said.
Ontario and Quebec are also expected to see less precipitation than normal, Scott added, and there may be some wind storms during the fall that cause power outages.
In Atlantic Canada, although early indicators show precipitation will likely be typical for the fall season, unpredictable storms that approach from the tropics could be a threat, The Weather Network said.
"We're really watching how tropical storms or hurricanes may come up the eastern seaboard and give a period of heavier rain for the Atlantic provinces," Scott said.
Temperatures are also expected to be typical in the Atlantic provinces, except Nova Scotia, which might see a hotter-than-normal fall, The Weather Network predicted.
In western Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Yukon, The Weather Network is predicting above-normal temperatures.
Scott said precipitation should be above normal in the North as well, especially across western and central Nunavut and some parts of the Northwest Territories.
"It's all because of El Nino directing the weather patterns across the world," Scott said of Canada's fall forecast.
"The narrative of this fall is that we'll see this cold push in the middle of the season and then moderating towards the end."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2023.
A fast-moving wildfire has hit Jasper, Alberta, destroying buildings and chasing some wildland firefighters away with dangerously poor air quality.
More than 25,000 people have been displaced from Jasper National Park since wildfires started to threaten the picturesque corner of Alberta Rockies on Monday, but the mayor of its namesake municipality says not everyone received an evacuation alert when it was sent out.
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Alberta has called in the Canadian Armed Forces to help assist with the worsening wildfire situation in the province.
An analyst and an assistant coach with Canada Soccer are being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and 'sent home immediately,' according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
After a handful of Australian water polo players tested positive for COVID-19 this week, questions have emerged around how the spread of the disease will be mitigated at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
A B.C. man who was hired to help a non-profit build a food hub but instead spent the money on personal expenses – including travel, restaurants, booze and cannabis – has been ordered to pay more than $120,000 in damages.
A local First Nations elder and veteran is helping to bring the Ojibwe language to a well-known film for the first time.
A cat who fled her Montreal home nearly a decade ago has been reunited with her family after being found in Ottawa.
A woman in Waterloo, Ont. is out thousands of dollars for a car crash she wasn’t involved in.
A swarm of bees living in a lamppost in Winnipeg’s Sage Creek neighbourhood has found a new home for its hive.
Around 100 acres of Manitoba Crown Land near the Saskatchewan border is being returned to the Métis community.
Nova Scotia is suspending the licensed Cape Breton moose hunt for three years due to what the province is calling a “significant drop” in the population.
A well-known childhood prank known as 'nicky nicky nine doors,' or 'ding dong ditch,' has escalated into a more serious game that could lead to charges for some Surrey, B.C. teens.
It's been more than a month since their good friend was seriously hurt in an accident and two teens from Riverview, N.B., are still having a hard time dealing with it.
Halifax bridges have collected thousands of coins from around the world.