Special Air Quality Statement remains in effect for North Coast - coastal regions

Much of British Columbia is now under
A Special Air Quality Advisory related to
the forest fires of the Western United States
(from the BC Gov't)

While some cooling winds and a few showers may have offered a bit of relief overnight, as the day clears and the sun returns Prince Rupert and the North Coast - coastal regions along with Haida Gwaii will remain for now under a Special Air Quality Statement advisory from Environment Canada.

As we outlined on Friday afternoon, the growing forest infernos of Washington State, Oregon and California will now continue to deliver an impact on the North Coast over the next 24 to 72 hours, with Environment Canada issuing an update to their Special Air Quality Statement for the region as of early this morning

In their advisory, Environment Canada notes that smoke impacts due to long-range transport from wildfires in the western United States have already been observed in some areas of Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, and portions of the Interior. Smoke forecast models indicated the potential for a significant push of smoke into BC over the weekend just passed. 

The anticipated smoke trajectory indicates that the areas impacted could grow to the north and east as the week progresses.

 

click to enlarge

You can access more details related to the environmental event from the Smokey Skies bulletin for Monday, September 14th, an update by the Province for that alert is anticipated later today. 

Included in their information notes are these guidelines for British Columbians as the air quality situation evolves over the weekend.

Click to enlarge

As we noted on Friday, the wet weather of the Northwest over the summer has significantly reduced our risk of forest fires along the Highway 16 corridor,  however the vast amount wildfires in the Western US continues to  impact British Columbia, a situation anticipated to carry on for a bit yet.

More items of note on Unusual weather situations for the Northwest can be explored through our archive page here.