![\\"logo\\"](\\"/img/logo-dpa-factchecking.svg\\"/) *About ![\\"IFCN](\\"/img/ifcn-certificate.png\\"/) ![\\"EFCSN](\\"/img/efcsn- certificate.png\\"/) ## Misleading screenshot # Spring temperatures in Canada rose above 30 degrees Celsius 11.5.2023, 15:17 (CEST) In Canada, drought combined with exceptional temperatures is causing forest fires. But not everyone is convinced that it is really warm inside Canada. Public data does show that warmth. We would once again be fooled by the media, according to social media media users. In the Canadian province of Alberta it would not be warmer than 13 degrees, while the NOS speaks of fires due to the drought and high temperatures. The evidence for this? A screenshot of the temperature. Enough to mistake the sea of ​​flames on the news for a hoax? ## Judgement The claims on social media are incorrect. In the first week of May the highest recorded temperature in Alberta 32.5 degrees, in the municipality of Fort McMurray. This exceptionally warm weather for spring extends throughout province. There was also a drought in Alberta this spring. This took care of combination with the high temperature and a lot of wind for intense forest fires. ## Facts Dozens of heat records were broken in Alberta in early May. The hottest place was the municipality of Fort McMurray, where it reached 32.5 degrees Celsius. Ter comparison: the average maximum temperature for Fort McMurray in May is around 16.5 degrees. So where does the claim that it was a maximum of 13 degrees come from? The Facebook post refers to a tweet, but there is no trace of it on Twitter to confess this message. By searching for the text from the Facebook post Google, the tweet can still be found via the cache. One of the screenshots from the tweet would indeed show that the hottest place in Canada would be Tompkins Landing, with 13.0 degrees Celsius. The screenshot was taken from a Canadian government website. That sounds like one reliable source, but that is not the whole story. Temperature of the hour For example, at the top of the blue box is the important sentence \"This hour\'s hot and cold spots\". This means that the website is updated every hour showing the hottest and coldest places in Alberta at that specific time. The data is therefore a snapshot and says nothing about the warmest moment all day, which is usually mid to late afternoon. The date of the screenshot is unknown, but it does show that it is 11:58 was taken. However, this says nothing about the time in Tompkins Landing, because the screenshot can be taken anywhere in the world, with all the time differences that entails, have been made. For example, the screenshot could have been taken by the Twitter user in the Netherlands on the date of the tweet (May 7), it would be in Alberta at that time almost 4:00 am. But where and when the screenshot was taken made cannot be said with certainty. How hot was it really? Tompkins Landing is a weather station, with these coordinates. It's not a village or municipality, and therefore there is none on other public websites with weather data find information about it. From the villages of Paddle Prairie and Buffalo Head Nearby Prairie does have weather history available. That's why they are statements about the temperatures in the area, although they pass through Factors such as altitude and vegetation may differ slightly from the temperature at the location of the weather station. In the nearby villages the maximum temperature was above 20 in early May degrees and on some days it almost reached thirty: a lot warmer than that average. The fact that the temperature can vary considerably on a day is also evident from the hourly weather forecast on the day of writing (May 11). At 4 o'clock morning the forecast temperature in Paddle Prairie was only 43 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius), but at 4 in the afternoon it is 76 degrees Fahrenheit (24.5 Celsius). A difference of almost twenty degrees within one so day. The moment when the screenshot of \'the hottest place of this hour\' made, therefore makes a big difference to the outcome. Fires and evacuations In addition to the high temperature, it was also exceptionally dry in large parts of Alberta. This is a major cause of forest fires. The status of the wildfires in Alberta are tracked here. At the time of writing there are 82 active forest fires. Nearly 25,000 Canadians have now been evacuated a state of emergency has been declared. A simple screenshot is therefore not enough to provide extensive weather data to refute reporting. Certainly not if that screenshot is just one snapshot shows. The same reasoning was made earlier by dpa refuted about the Spanish heat wave. (State of play: 11.05.2023) ## Left Facebook post (archived, video archived) Deleted tweet in cache (archived) Article Global News, heat records (archived) Average max temperature Fort McMurray (archived) Google Search (archived) Screenshot tweet (archived) Warmest moment of the day (archived here and here) Time difference Netherlands-Alberta (archived) Tompkins Landing weather station (archived) Weather station coordinates (archived) Location and surroundings of weather station (archived) Weather history Paddle Prairie & Buffalo Head Prairie (archived here and here) Hourly weather forecast May 11 Paddle Prairie (archived) About drought in Alberta (archived) Article BBC (archived) Wildfire map (archived, status: May 11, 2023) Article CNN (archived) State of emergency (archived) Dpa fact check ### About dpa fact checks This fact check was written in the context of the Third Party Fact Checking program from Facebook/Meta. More information about this initiative can be found here. 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The highest recorded temperature in Alberta Canada is 13 degrees So the media fools us by saying that forest fires there are caused by drought and heat