Air Quality map of North America/via IQair
Air quality in Kamloops and throughout much of the Southern Interior is expected to see some ebbs and flows through the rest of the weekend, but with the good possibility of some foul air through Saturday evening.
The latest readings from Environment Canada (4pm) have Kamloops at a level 4, which is considered a moderate air-quality level.
The Environment Canada forecast does have expectations the wildfire smoke could potentially go anywhere from a 6 to 9 on its scale through the rest of Saturday and part of Sunday as well.
However, readings via Swiss-based firm IQair shows a slightly different story.
The firm uses the internationally recognized standard of PM, or Particulate Matter readings to provide a more concise snapshot of what air quality levels are.
[Click to Expand] International scale air quality readings in Kamloops as of 4pm Saturday, Sept. 6th, 2025/via IQair
Those readings for most of Kamloops have come in at over 100 as of the late afternoon (4pm) on Saturday.
That is a level which is unhealthy for folks with pre-existing conditions.
Levels above 200 become unhealthy for everyone, regardless of health, while above 250, the levels start being categorized as “dangerous.”
The longer-term forecast is somewhat unclear as far as wildfire smoke is concerned into next week.
However, the smoke forecast via Smoke.ca — run by the federal government — does indicate a “windows closed” evening here in Kamloops.
[Click to Expand] Progression of wildfire smoke into the Kamloops area through the rest of the weekend/via firesmoke.ca
That should help tamp down the fires which have been generating the smoke, while also brining temperatures down to normal for this time of year, which is in the mid-20’s.
The wildfires which have been generating this late-season smoke are still growing in size.
This includes the Mine Creek fire, which forced the closure of the Coquihalla for nearly two days from late Wednesday afternoon until Friday at noon.
It has grown from roughly 1,900 hectares on Wednesday to over 3,000 as of Saturday afternoon.
While that fire has grown, authorities have decided to keep the Coquihalla open between Merritt and Hope.
However, travelers along the route are warned not to stop, noting visibility will be limited.
At the same time, there may be additional wildlife along the roadway attempting to move away from the fire zone.
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- Latest mapping from the BC Wildfire Service for the Mine Creek fire along the Merritt to Hope section of the Coquihalla, which reopened Friday at noon/via BCWS [CLICK TO EXPAND]
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- Forecast for the coming week, which will see temperatures return normal for this time of year and the smoke possibly ease/via Environment Canada [CLICK TO EXPAND]
