The temperature in La Ronge is expected to rise to 26 C by Sunday. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

wildfire update

Rain expected for La Ronge, wildfire smoke continues to linger

May 23, 2023 | 5:00 PM

A weather system moving over La Ronge on Tuesday and Wednesday is only expected to bring five to 10 millimeters of rain.

“The pattern is thankfully changing a little bit,” said Environment and Climate Change meteorologist Terri Lang.

“The best bet for rain though, unfortunately, is going to be just over the next few days. We’re seeing the system kind of move out to towards the east. It doesn’t look like there’s much transitioning through until maybe the weekend. We will see temperatures starting to creep up again and the humidity start to drop again towards the weekend.”

While periods of rain are expecting today and tomorrow, the remainder of the week will either be sunny or a mix of sun and clouds. While the daytime highs for Tuesday and Wednesday are 12 C and 10 C, respectively, the temperature will rise throughout the week and reach 26 C by Sunday.

In April, La Ronge only received 24.4 millimeters of precipitation out of a normal 35.8 mm. Precipitation for May is also expected to be low with only seven millimeters of rain falling so far this month.

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A special air quality statement issued more than one week ago remains in effect as smoke is causing poor air quality and reduced visibility. Air quality and visibility due to wildfire smoke can fluctuate over short distances and can vary considerably from hour to hour.

“In respect to the wildfire smoke, it looks like it is going to be part of the background at least until the next little while, because there are so many fires out there and they are still going,” Lang said.

“Just with the way the wind directions are, even if it shifts a little bit, it still seems to bring the smoke in, so unfortunately it is going to be part of what’s going on over the next few days at least and probably over the next few weeks.”

As of May 23, there are 24 fires burning in Saskatchewan of which 13 are being assessed, five are uncontained, three are contained and wildfires crews are protecting property in regards to three others. There have been 184 fires to date and the five-year average is 106.

The closest fires to La Ronge are the Sharp and Wistigo fires, which are both uncontained, and the now contained Meyak fire. The Wistigo fire was responsible for the partial evacuation of Hall Lake last week.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno