A hazy cloud of smoke hanging over town prompted air advisories this week, but the cause wasn’t nearby wildfires in Strathcona Park or even blazes from the Interior, but more likely drifts of smoke from Eurasia, Alaska and Yukon.
That’s according to Earle Plain, air quality meteorologist from the provincial environment ministry. He said that smoke began to drift to the West Coast last week.
“The likely source was fires in Eurasia,” he said. “You can’t really pinpoint one set of fires, there’s so many clusters over there right now. They’re having a huge heat wave and drought situation all over Europe.”
A high pressure system late last week brought in hot weather, creating a clockwise circulation of air that brought smoke across the Bering Sea and Alaska into B.C., said Plain.
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“The whole blanket kinda came south, and covered us up here,” said Plain, adding that it included smoke from places like Siberia, but also Alaska and Yukon.
That same weather pattern pushed smoke from B.C.’s Interior to Washington State, he said.
The appearance of the smoke is often a tell-tale sign of how far it has travelled, said Plain.
“If it’s a sort of uniform haze, it comes from a long ways away,” he said.
Wildfires have raged across Europe, notably in places like coastal Greece, where recent blazes claimed dozens of lives.
READ MORE: Forensics experts work on identifying the dead in Greek fire
B.C.’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy issued an advisory on Tuesday about smoky conditions for the whole province, except western Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii.
In Campbell River, the Elk Falls Dogwood weather station showed a major spike in the average level of airborne particulate matter known as PM2.5.
The concentration of those harmful particles, which can cause heart issues, jumped from about 20 to nearly 100 micrograms per cubic metre on Wednesday afternoon, according to data posted on the BC Air Quality website.
“That’s a pretty significant spike,” said Plain.
He stressed that people with chronic medical conditions, elderly people and infants are especially susceptible to the smoke.
It’s important for people to listen to their bodies, said Plain. Joggers or others exercising outdoors may notice a constricted feeling in their chest, for example. That’s a signal that it’s time to go inside.
@davidgordonkoch
david.koch@campbellrivermirror.com
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