Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued an air quality warning for Edmonton, with wildfire smoke expected to affect the city through Tuesday before a spell of hot weather arrives later this week.
The agency said smoke from wildfires in the Northwest Territories is causing poor air quality and reduced visibility across parts of central and northern Alberta.
“Although it’s wet through central Alberta, it’s not wet in the Northwest Territories and that’s where the majority of the smoke is going to be coming from,” meteorologist Janelle Gergely told the Edmonton Journal.
“We’re already seeing that the air quality is quite poor though most of north-central and northern Alberta and we can see it starting to creep into the capital region (Monday) morning.”
“We’re dealing with fires just west of Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories, and there are quite a few fires around the Fort Simpson area, in Wrigley, north of Great Slave Lake,” she added.
The City of Edmonton has also activated its extreme weather response until Wednesday morning.
Residents are being encouraged to limit exposure by keeping windows and doors closed and using public facilities, including libraries, pools and recreation centres, if needed.
Smoke is expected to improve by Tuesday afternoon, while temperatures are forecast to rise above 30C later in the week, reaching as high as 32C by Friday.
