(Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Nolan Kowal

Smoky summer?

More smoke expected to drift into north central Sask. this week

May 14, 2024 | 3:21 PM

After wildfire smoke appeared in Prince Albert last Saturday, more smoke is expected in the region this week according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Meteorologist Brian Proctor said changing wind patterns will cause more smoke to appear later this week, specifically from fires along the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border.

“Things start to change tomorrow (Wednesday) evening a little bit, the flow switches around and we start to see those fires that are sort of in the area of Creighton and Flin Flon becoming a bit more problematic for us,” Proctor said.

“We start seeing the winds swing around to the east and northeast, and that’s probably going to drift some of that smoke back into the province. And probably mainly over P.A. and areas just south of P.A. will see the majority of the impacts of that smoke. But it doesn’t look particularly threatening at this point in time,” said Proctor, adding that P.A. will likely see the smoke on Thursday and Friday.

Proctor said there’s another major factor that influences smoke in addition to just the wind.

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“Very much the wind and also how stable the atmosphere is,” he said. “If you’ve got a stable atmosphere, it allows that smoke concentration to really get trapped and sort of really help fumigate areas if you want to put it that way. So it’s really an atmospheric stability and atmospheric wind phenomenon more than anything else.”

Environment and Climate Change Canada is also forecasting rain for the P.A. area for most of this week.

“It can wash out the smoke a little bit, but really we’re dependent on a large amount of precipitation to help alleviate these fires,” he said.

He added that the majority of the wildfires are originating in Alberta and British Columbia.

“Northern Alberta, Central Alberta, and northeast BC…those are our real problematic areas in the country right now,” he said.

Proctor expects this to be another summer with a heavy wildfire presence, with the leading cause being ongoing droughts in Western Canada.

“Given the extreme moisture deficits that are out there for many portions of Northern Alberta, northeast BC, up into the southern NWT, and even some portions starting to stretch into Saskatchewan…I expect we’re going to have a very active wildfire season,” Proctor said.

“So smoke is going to be a problem for us for much of the summer, off and on.”

Proctor added that it could be a smoky May Long Weekend for north-central Saskatchewan as well, with some smoke drifting over from the northwest.

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nolan.kowal@pattisonmedia.com