Grow the Smoky Skys newsletter
Photo: Castanet web cameras
Looking south across Skaha Lake Thursday morning.
An extended smoky skies bulletin has been issued for much of the southern interior, including the Thompson-Okanagan region.
After the advisory was issued for the southern Okanagan and Kootenay areas on Wednesday, the province has expanded the advisory to a much larger region, which includes the entire southeastern section of the province.
“The southern interior continues to be affected by widespread smoke. Thunderstorms and convection today may clear the smoke, but may also lead to new fire activity,” the bulletin said.
The newsletter covers the entire Okanagan, plus the Kootenays, Shuswap, Thompson, Bounday, Nicola and Peace River regions.
Smoke is expected to affect the region for the next 24 to 48 hours.
“People with pre-existing health conditions, respiratory infections such as COVID-19, older adults, pregnant women and infants, children and sensitive individuals are more likely to experience health effects from smoke exposure,” the bulletin states.
Unsettled weather conditions inland this week are expected to keep smoke from nearby wildfires relatively light in the Okanagan, but a ridge of high pressure is expected to return to BC next week. Ridges of high pressure can trap the smoke in the valley floor.
Photo: contributed
August 11th Smoky Skys Newsletter
Photo: firesmoke.ca
Smoke forecast for Thursday afternoon.