The haze which has begun lingering over the Kamloops area this weekend is likely going to stick around for the next couple of days.
The Air Quality Index began deteriorating early Sunday, with readings in Lac Le Jeune hovering near or above 200 at the time, which is considered “very unhealthy.”
Air Quality reading at Lac Le Jeune station, Sunday, 11am/via IQAir.com
Global BC chief meteorologist Mark Madryga says a stagnant air-flow has allowed smoke to filter up from the Lower Mainland and beyond.
“The main push of smoke looks like it came up from a large fire just east of Seattle that fed the smoke into Metro Vancouver. Now it’s curved around and into the Thompson-Okanagan and Nicola Valley.”
Madryga says while the airflow in the upper atmosphere is moving, the same can’t be said lower down, suggesting we’re likely going to see poor air quality and lower visibility likely through Monday and into Tuesday in the Kamloops region.
While the smoke in Kamloops is bringing down the air quality, it’s much worse in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley.
Air quality reading for British Columbia, Sunday, 11am/via IQAir.com
Air quality readings around the world, Sunday, 11am via/IQAir.com
However, Madryga does note the drop in air quality in the Kamloops area isn’t close to what took place last year during wildfire season, but says the drop in the AQI is something worth monitoring, especially for those with underlying health conditions.
“Depends on how those fires keep burning, how much will feed into the Kamloops area, for example, then settle down to the low elevations,” cautions Madryga. “Definitely it’s nothing like we saw last year for sure, so far. [But] we’ll really have to watch this.”
