The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) is getting its affairs in order as it outlined its wildfire forecast and readiness for the 2026 wildfire season on Tuesday afternoon.
One of the factors raised during the briefing was the drought conditions the territory has been facing for the last few years Regarding those conditions, Jason Currie, wildfire operations manager with the Department of Environment and Climate Chamge (ECC), said those conditions will continue, but thatit’s lessened a bit.
“There is some recovery from the drought, but we didn’t get to rain last fall, which would have played a lot into recovery,” he said.
Currie said with the drought, fires burn much deeper into the ground, making them more challenging to fully extinguish.
According to the GNWT, in Fort Simpson between May and August 2025, just 40 per cent of average rainfall fell. In Fort Liard, it was 33 per cent.
Additionally, Currie said that as the La Nina, a Pacific Ocean pattern that brings cooler temperatures across the NWT, is expected to switch to El Nino, which will bring warmer temperatures.
That means the NWT could heat up, further complicating the wildfire season, he noted.
As part of the GNWT’s operational readiness, infrared scanning missions on large fire perimeters to seek and destroy hot spots have been done. These scanning missions identified spots near Fort Providence, Whati, Fort Liard, and Jean Marie River.
Territorial winter precipitation for the 2025-26 winter season has been roughly average with some notable highs and lows in various regions. For example, Fort Smith saw 141 per cent of its normal snow fall for November, and 184 per cent during February.
Hay River saw 66 per cent of its normal snow fall during November, and 83 per cent in January, but also saw 119 percent in December and 111 per cent in February.
Fort Liard saw only 63 per cent of its normal snow fall in November, 51 per cent in January, and 67 per cent in February. In total, Fort Liard only saw 79 per cent of its normal snow fall this season.
Fort Simpson saw 89 per cent of its normal snow fall for the entire winter season, and Yellowknife and Norman Wells saw 91 and 93 per cent respectively over the same timespan.
The GNWT also conducted snow surveys that measure the accumulated snow on the ground, and that provide insight on how much water will be released into the ground when the snow fully melts.
Yellowknife leads the figures with 163 per cent of its five-year average snow pile-up. Fort Liard had 140 per cent of its average this season and Hay River had 125 per cent. Norman Wells saw the lowest snow pile up this year at only 95 per cent of its five-year average.
According to the GNWT, these snow conditions imply that an early start to the fire season is unlikely. The accumulated snow has the dual effect of added surface moisture and suppressed temperatures.
Currie, who lives in Fort Smith,said there’s still a lot of snow still left on the ground, which he said will most likely delay the fire season.
“It’s good to see that we got snow in the last few years,” he said. “We’ve been well-below average, and that’s kind of dictated what kind of fire season we’ll be having.”