Why is southern Manitoba missing all the wildfire smoke?

Smoke has blanketed much of the country during this summer’s wildfire season. But many here in Southern Manitoba are wondering why our skies have remained mostly clear?

In the West, parts of B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the Territories have been facing smoky skies for much of the summer. In the East, Ontario and Quebec have been inundated with hazy skies. Even our neighbours South of the border in North Dakota have been experiencing smoke.

Natalie Hasell from Environment Canada says just because Winnipeg skies may appear smoke free, doesn’t mean the air quality is not impacted.

“We will still be at risk of poor air quality. The fire situation has not much improved in the las while, and I think there are fires in almost every wind direction,” said Hasell.

Hasell says we’ve been lucky so far, but it’s likely that a change in weather patterns will bring smoke to the Winnipeg area.

“So, I don’t think we’re going to completely escape from the poor air quality issues that other parts of Western Canada have suffered in the last while, but yeah, I think we’ve been pretty lucky that the air quality hasn’t been too bad.”

She says the distance between Winnipeg and the wildfire outbreaks has helped, as most of the fires burning in Western Canada are further north.

She adds a series of summer storms has likely kept the smoke at bay.

“When it mixes out you get a little bit of dilution, and your air quality is a little bit better. So I think Winnipeg probably ha benefitted from some unsettled weather, allowing that mixing to occur.”

Hasell stresses to not only trust your eyes when it comes to air quality. For those particularly vulnerable… it’s important to be aware of the particulate matter in the air.

“It’s those minute smoke particles that we care about because those bypass all of the systems that you naturally have to filter them out. So they are not getting caught in the hairs in your nose, they’re not getting caught on the mucus, you’re not coughing them up. They are making their way down to your lungs.”

Hasell says it’s concerning when measurements get to 100 parts per million. It’s anticipated Winnipeg could see 60-80 parts per million in the coming days.