File photo (650 CKOM)

By CKOM News Staff

Weather office warns of poor air quality from wildfire smoke

Aug 15, 2023 | 8:56 AM

Much of Saskatchewan is covered in a blanket of smoke today.

A plume of wildfire smoke blew into the province overnight, prompting Environment and Climate Change Canada to issue special air quality alerts Tuesday. Nearly the entire province is impacted, except for the far south and the northwest, including communities around La Loche.

“North of 60, there’s a lot of wildfires burning through the Northwest Territories, and there’s still some large fires in northern Saskatchewan as well,” said meteorologist Brad Vrolijk.

“That smoke has been building up in that region for the last week or so.”

Vrolijk says a cold front moving through the Prairies has brought a dense plume of smoke along with it.

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Conditions are expected to gradually improve throughout the day, but another round of smoke will blow into central and southern areas Wednesday, according to Vrolijk.

“Early indications are it doesn’t look like it will be quite as bad as today. It’s kind of hard to tell this far out. Smoke can be tricky to forecast.”

The city of Saskatoon was experiencing very dense smoke Tuesday morning as the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) registered 10+. The weather agency recommends avoiding outdoor activity at that level.

More advice on how to manage exposure from wildfire smoke can be found on the Environment and Climate Change Canada website.