Wildfire smoke again plagues the Okanagan Valley

Some relief on the way but smoke could linger until fall

Central Okanagan residents saw how quickly wildfire smoke can move in on Wednesday.

Skies were clear in the morning but by the afternoon, the first serious smoke haze had obscured hillsides surrounding the city. Short-term relief is in sight but residents better get used to smoky conditions, warns Environment Canada.

“Our models do show some smoke coming into the Kelowna area. There is that bit of a southerly wind that brought the smoke from the Keremeos fire over into the Central Okanagan,”said meteorologist Bobby Sekhon on Wednesday.

“There is some relief in the forecast with a change in the weather pattern coming. Winds from the south will let up a bit and also we'll get some chance of showers later (Wednesday) evening and tomorrow (Thursday) as well.”

With that, there should be more atmospheric mixing as well as a small change in the wind direction so there won't be ss much smoke drifting into Kelowna, he said, noting there is not only a fire in Keremeos but also in the Lytton area.

“Unfortunately, smoke can last into September for the Okanagan. While we do have this unsettled pattern for the next couple of days, then we're getting more into a ridge of high pressure situation. That means we have some warm, dry weather building this weekend into next week. We could see some southerly winds, of course, and also with that, there is more stagnant air in that pattern, not a lot of strong winds happening, not a lot mixing going on in the atmosphere to help with that smoke. Oftentimes, you can see some more smoke in those situations.”

Subtle winds are hard to see in long-range forecasts, he said.

“What we can say is: from now to September, residents can expect to see smoke from time to time at least. Our air-quality readings are not indicating any drop in the ground-level (smoke). We will be monitoring those. Of course, there is the special air-quality statement that's in effect for smoky skies.”

The B.C. Ministry of Environment is looking into those in co-ordination with Environment Canada, he said.

“We'll be keeping an eye out on those airquality measurements, the air-quality health index. If things do get worse, it will be in the forecast. There will be fluctuations between now and September but this is wildfire season, unfortunately, and we can expect to see smoke.”

On Wednesday, Interior Health reported there hasn’t been any notable increase in respiratory visits to the ERs related to smoke since the season began.