Pack away that sunscreen — for Wednesday, anyway.
Environment Canada was projecting another hot, sunny week for the Okanagan, but that changed overnight. On Wednesday morning, residents and visitors awoke to dull, grey skies as smoke from wildfires in Alberta and northern B.C. drifted southwards into the region.
In Kelowna, the forecast was calling for temperatures of up to 30 C for Wednesday. However, wildfire smoke acts as an unwanted filter, so it’s unlikely the mercury will reach that figure, though it will still be a warm day.
Further, the region’s air quality should worsen throughout Wednesday due to a wind shift, though it should improve drastically later Thursday and into the long weekend as a southwesterly airflow re-establishes itself over the area.
At noon on Wednesday, with the mercury at 26 C, Environment Canada issued a special air quality statement for the Central Okanagan and the North Okanagan.
Smoke is causing or expected to cause poor air quality and reduced visibility,” Enviroment Canada said in its smoky skies bulletin.
“Many regions throughout the B.C. Interior are being impacted or are likely to be impacted by wildfire smoke over the next 24-48 hours.”
The Okanagan’s air quality health index (AQHI) was rated as low in the morning and at noon, though Kamloops was rated at moderate (6 ranking).
The AQHI has four levels: Low risk (1-3), moderate risk (4-6), high risk (7-10) and very high risk (10-plus).
Visit the province’s AQHI website for more information.
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