Haze covering the North Thompson valley as seen from downtown Kamloops/via Paul James
A turn in the air quality in the Kamloops area on Thursday.
But unlike previous smoke events this summer, the particulate is not coming from any fire burning in the Kamloops region.
The BC Wildfire Service says the influx of smoke is coming to the region from the south via Washington State, as well as from fires in the Vanderhoof area in the northern part of BC.
Smoke modelling suggests the haze could be with us for a few days, as smoke from the fires in Washington will continue to press northward.
Smoke from various fires burning in Washington State/via firesmoke.ca
The current high pressure system which is keeping the unseasonable heat in the area will also keep the wind down, meaning the smoke could linger into the weekend.
Air-quality readings on Thursday around noon showed Kamloops in the moderate to unhealthy range on the international scale.
The AQI readings at that time were substantially higher in the North Thompson valley.
Wildfire smoke in these ranges generally affect younger and older people, as well as individuals who may have underlying health problems.
Air quality alerts issued on Thursday due to wildfire smoke/via iqair.com
