While much of the Yukon is under an air quality statement due to wildfire smoke, Environment and Climate Change Canada said the next few weeks could see more smoky episodes.
Winds are currently coming from the east, said Matt Loney of Environment and Climate Change Canada. This means smoke from wildfires in northern British Columbia is being blown west into the southern Yukon.
While air quality is expected to improve overnight on June 16, smoky conditions could return later in the week, he said.
“As long as we have these fires to the east that are, you know, that are raging out control, and as long as easterly winds develop, there will be that potential for deterioration of air quality episodes,” Loney said.
Loney said that periodic easterly winds are typical in the southern Yukon throughout May and June.
Loney said periods of smoke and low air quality can be expected for the next few weeks until the summertime patterns kick in. However, he emphasized that these periods will be episodic.
“We would never expect it to be continuous, because there will be day-to-day variations of wind flow,” he said.
Smoke is also difficult to predict as forecasts rely on the situation near the surface of the earth, which is the most complicated area for computer models to solve, said Loney.
“We typically only go out about 72 hours when it comes to smoke forecasts,” he said. “We tend not to go too far out, because of the details can be so critical to the actual forecast of something so surface-based like smoke.”
Much of the Yukon is also under severe thunderstorm watch, which means that the right conditions are in place for thunderstorms to develop.
Contact Talar Stockton at talar.stockton@yukon-news.com
