Wildfires and hydrologic extremes (i.e., floods and droughts) are more frequent and severe globally but particularly in northern latitudes. Although much research has focused on understanding the individual occurrence of these disturbances, comparatively fewer studies have assessed their co-occurrence over large regions. We address this gap by simultaneously analyzing historical streamflow and forest fires across all of Canada; this included streamflow records from 2,180 catchments with active stream gages, as well as information about 42,604 fires recorded between 1917 and 2020. For each catchment, we determined the frequency of extreme high flows and low flows, as well as the fraction of catchment area burned, in each year. We then used a cluster analysis to classify the level of each type of disturbance in each catchment, based on the full history of extreme flows and forest fires. Across all study catchments and all years, the median number of extreme high-flow days and low-flow days was 7.3 (range = 0-183) and 69 (range = 0-364) days per year, respectively. Forest fires affected an average of 15% of catchments each year, burning a median of 0.02% of catchment area (range = <0.001 – 100%). Preliminary results show that >20% of catchments were characterized by a history of compound disturbance. In this comprehensive analysis we detail regional differences in the co-occurrence of fire and hydrologic extremes and discuss implications for future vulnerability of Canadian catchments to intensifying disturbance.
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