A special air quality statement has again been issued for parts of the Southern Interior, as smoke from persistent wildfires settles in.
The warning covers the Central Okanagan and Shuswap, areas where Environment Canada said shifting winds moved smoke from the west.
The result, according to the Air Quality Health Index produced by Environment Canada, was a low risk to the community Monday morning, though that was expected to rise to a moderate risk Monday night.
The website IQ Air ranked air quality slightly differently. Kelowna, for example, was ranked at a moderate risk Monday morning, with particles of PM 2.5 being named the cause.
“PM2.5 concentration in Kelowna is currently 5.3 times the WHO annual air quality guideline value,” IQ Air stated on its website.
While smoky days lingering into September are less common, it doesn’t necessarily mean a smokier year than that of years past, Bobby Sekhon a warning preparedness meteorologist, said.
Within the Okanagan, records are only available for Penticton and they indicate that previous years were worse. In 2015 there were 144 smoke hours, in 2017 there were 354 hours, in 2018 there were 376 hours, in 2020 there were 171 hours, 2021 there were 228 hours, 2022 there were 59 hours and until last week, 2023 had seen only 164 hours.
How long smoke will continue to sock in the region remains to be seen, with BC wildfire still reporting 14 fires of note burning in the province. The most destructive ongoing fire remains the McDougall Creek wildfire, which destroyed nearly 200 homes.
As of Monday it was mapped at 13,970.4 hectares, and there’s an expectation that the current estimated size is expected to increase once the fire perimeter is scanned. The increase in size will be a result of the planned ignition operations conducted on Sept. 5 and 6.
BC Wildfire indicated fire behaviour is expected to remain persistent, albeit low in the days ahead.
Temperatures should cool a few degrees, but will remain warm Monday with temperatures reaching 20 to 24 C.
“We’ll see a bit of a rise in relative humidity, with patchy winds redeveloping in the afternoon and finding a bit more of a westerly direction,” BC Wildfire said in its daily update.
“These lighter winds, slightly cooler temperatures, cloud cover, and higher relative humidity should combine to keep fire behaviour relatively low. Still no rain in the forecast for the near future.”
For the next few days, temperatures will stay fairly warm and relative humidity values will be low in the afternoons. Winds are expected to remain light to moderate with no big wind events appearing at this point.
An Ontario Incident Management Team took over the Grouse Complex from the BC IMT on Sept. 9.
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