Poor air quality warning for southwest Alberta as wildfire smoke moves into region

Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued Yellow alerts for air quality for the southwest corner of our province, due to wildfire smoke.

In a weather statement late Thursday afternoon, it said smoke is expected to cause poor air quality and reduced visibility, and while conditions had improved earlier in the day, it warned that bad air would, again, return on Friday.

Conditions to the west, in B.C.’s East Kootenay region, deteriorated during the day Thursday with the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) nearing 10 or a Very High Risk, with some of that haze now making its way through the Crowsnest Pass and into Alberta.

According to FireSmoke Canada, smoke is expected to push into the Lethbridge region by late Friday and into the early hours Saturday, but at this point, it doesn’t appear to be the same intensity as we saw during part of the long weekend when the AQHI peaked at 10-plus in the city.