More lightning but less wildfires so far in 2026

Gergely also added some yearly stats, and so far there have been 184,000 flashes in the province this year. The smallest annual total in the last decade was recorded in 2017 with only 241,000 flashes.

With all that lightning coming down, you might expect to see more wildfires, but that hasn’t been the case according to Jeff DeDekker, Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA)’s manager of communications and media. He explained two main factors have kept wildfire numbers down.

“Most areas have received strikes throughout the province, but fortunately the moisture levels have been high, thus reducing any starts. When lightning strikes hit an old burn, there is less fuel for it to grow or start.”

While this wildfire season may be less busy so far, the SPSA is actively battling several blazes in northern Saskatchewan. There have been 263 wildfires this year in the province, 56 of which are active, compared to 389 total fires last year.

In a statement sent to paNOW, DeDekker said one of the biggest differences between this year’s wildfire season and last year’s is the human aspect.

“Wildfires this year are less than 2025, due to the precipitation we have received and fewer human-caused starts. Last year the entire province was experiencing drought conditions and fires were starting across the province. In 2025, 52 per cent of the wildfires in Saskatchewan were human-caused. As of July 21, 2026, 45 per cent of the wildfires in Saskatchewan this season were human-caused.”

Back at Environment Canada, Gergely said their data may be incomplete; there could be more lightning flashes than the numbers they have recorded.

“I know that our lightning detection network does better with cloud-to-ground lightning than cloud-to-cloud. So our data may even underrepresent the number of cloud-to-cloud strikes there is. That’s improving over time as technology improves.”

While we’re seeing lots of lightning in the northern half of Saskatchewan, Gergely said that the southern half of the province has seen even more.

“One thing to keep in mind is that southern Saskatchewan has experienced a very active thunderstorm season so far this year, resulting in a significant amount of lightning. Therefore, there has been more lightning this year but those flashes were not necessarily across forested portions of the province.”

You can find Environment Canada’s lightning map on their website which shows the amount of ‘flashes’ over the span of the last hour, along with the location of the ‘flashes’.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com

by Nick Nielsen

More lightning but less wildfires so far in 2026

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