(Jaryn Vecchio/paNOW Staff)

By Nolan Kowal

Smoke alert

Smoky air to return to P.A. as record-breaking year continues

Sep 11, 2023 | 12:29 PM

After a brief reprieve, it appears more smoke will draft back into Prince Albert this week according to Environment Canada.

“Probably it looks like Wednesday…it looks like there’s a big surge of smoke coming in from the fires in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories,” said Meteorologist Terri Lang. “So I would expect probably some poorer air quality moving back in.”

“Until all these fires abate, which is after the snow flies, I think we’re going to be seeing smoke on and off through out Saskatchewan into the forseeable future unfortunately.”

Lang said typically fires and smoke taper off around mid September, but this year is different.

“We’re kind of into uncharted territory this year with a number of fires that are still putting out quite a bit of smoke just because they’re burning up so [many] hectares,” Lang said. “And we’re still seeing warm, dry temperatures which aren’t helping, so we may see this wildfire season and the smoke continue even into October.”

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Lang added it’s not just wind direction that influences where the smoke goes.

“It has to do with atmospheric stability, which is kind of a jargony term. It just means whether or not the smoke that’s coming in stays in the upper atmosphere or mixes down to the surface,” she said, adding that northwest winds create the worst conditions.

So far in 2023, Prince Albert has had 355 smoke hours, which is a record for the city, breaking the previous mark of 231 hours set back in 2015.

“So that tells you how much smoke there actually has been compared to one of the busiest years that we had just a few years ago,” Lang said.

By comparison, La Ronge has had over 800 hours of smoke this year.

Lang reminded people to keep an eye on the Air Quality Health Index with more smoke expected this week.

“We know that it can get above 10, and that’s when it’s really bad and it affects even the healthiest of people,” she said. “Those are the types of days when you minimize your time outside, try and stay in filtered air.”

“Don’t exert yourself outside because that brings really small smoke particles down into the depths of your lungs. So (you) really have to be paying attention to it.”

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nolan.kowal@pattisonmedia.com