Zoë Comeau was sitting on a deck in Edmonton when she noticed haze rolling in.
Comeau, visiting from Halifax to perform at the Edmonton Fringe Festival, was confused because it seemed like fog, but smelled like a campfire.
“It’s hard. It’s rough to breathe,” she said. “Even in the theatre, you see little pieces of debris floating around the lights.”
Alberta’s capital city has had another smoky summer: as of midnight Thursday, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) recorded 136 smoke hours, when smoke obscures visibility within 9.7 kilometres, said Justin Shelley, an agency meteorologist.
Typically, smoke hours are recorded from May through September, which would make 2024 the city’s third-most smoke-filled year on record, he said (records on the city’s smoke hours extend back more than 70 years). If the range is expanded to October, this year has had the fourth-most smoke.
Shelley expects the city’s smoke hours to continue rising, however, given there are still a couple of months left in the wildfire season and that smoke remains in the city’s short-term forecast.
The national weather agency has issued air quality advisories for most of the province, including Edmonton. The air has been ‘Very High Risk’ over the past couple of days — and it is forecasted to be so through Friday, at least, according to the ECCC air quality health index.
“Smoke forecasting is pretty tricky,” Shelley said, noting that slight weather changes can affect predictions.
“But right now… we’re not really seeing a big shift in the pattern. We’ll likely see these conditions continue into the weekend, until early next week.”
An aerial look at wildfire in smoke in Edmonton on Aug. 15, 2024
In the meantime, some people in Edmonton told CBC News they are wary of the smoke, but try to go about their lives.
Ellie Simonot said she has had to cancel or reschedule plans with friends a few times this summer. She and her family, who live near the river valley, have not gone for as many hikes in the area as usual.
“Sometimes, when you’re walking around or doing anything active, you can really feel it affecting your body,” Simonot said.
For Ruth Lu, the smoke is not ideal — and she has been noticing heavy smoke more often during the summers.
“I’m considering wearing a mask on days like this,” she told CBC News Thursday.
Shelley said Edmonton experienced 299 smoke hours last year, which was a record wildfire season.
