Morning briefing: Four things to know for Saturday

Saturday, July 12, 2014, 8:03 AM -

For some, a sunny weekend will be marred by thunderstorms, while for others, and intense wildfire risk continues. Here's what you need to know for the weekend.

Atlantic Canada

Newfoundland should be seeing some rain Saturday morning, mostly around the Avalon Peninsula, no more than 5-10 mm and clearing through the day.

In the Maritimes, it's a bright and sunny day. Temperature-wise, it'll be comfortably in the 20s, repeating warm and humid conditions that settled over the region Friday.

Ontario

There are a few storms taking aim at Canada's most populous province, beginning in the Nickel Belt, where a front will begin moving through this morning, but by the overnight, parts of it will begin impacting cottage country and the extreme southwest.

The Nickel Belt and the Windsor-Sarnia area are most at risk for storms Saturday, expected to be non-severe.

On Sunday, however, most of Ontario is at risk for storms, as that system will have begun impacting the south, including the Greater Toronto Area, by the morning. 

There is even a risk for severe thunderstorms in a line stretching from Windsor to Ottawa and Montreal.

Check back later in the day for more details as we firm up that forecast.

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Western storms and wildfires

The Prairies and northwestern Ontario are also in for some storms on Saturday.

Manitoba, where the risk for isolated severe storms is greatest, is covered by a special weather statement from Environment Canada, warning of thunderstorms with potentially damaging wind gusts, moving through this afternoon.

Elsewhere in the Prairies, many skies are filled with haze from wildfires in Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

The wildfires are so large and widespread that the smoke stretches far to the south, even into the United States.

The Alberta government is restricting access to the back country near Rocky Mountain House, due to a wildfire burning near Banff National Park that is more than 50 square kilometres in size.

In B.C., where the wildfire season is ramping up, there is a wildfire smoke advisory in effect for the Prince Rupert area, and firefighters are preparing for a difficult wildfire fight, due to dry conditions this weekend.

Two years since Johnson's Landing landslide

On July 12, 2012, a massive landslide thundered down the hillside near the small community of Johnsons Landing.

The landslide engulfed six homes and killed four people, burying parts of the community in a debris field more than 4 m deep in some places.

It was part of a massive emergency in the B.C. interior in the spring and early summer of 2012. A high snowpack, followed by a warm up and torrential rains, forced several communities to cope with flood emergencies.

Thousands of people were under an evacuation order at one point, and one man drowned near Nelson, B.C.

RELATED: Watch below for footage of a landslide triggered by Typhoon Neoguri