Smoke came into the Nanaimo region late last week but only stayed for a few days before dissipating. (Kyle Ireland/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

air quality

More smoke from Interior wildfires due over Island skies

Aug 24, 2023 | 11:30 AM

NANAIMO — A change in the weather pattern is forecast to bring smoke from a dangerous wildfire situation throughout B.C.’s interior to Vancouver Island.

Forecasters are calling for smoke to begin arriving across the region on Friday, Aug. 25 and linger for several days.

Air quality meteorologist Donna Haga said it’s being caused by a change in wind patterns, a shift from what’s considered typical for this area.

“Normally we get winds the opposite way in B.C., going across the province from west to east or from the southwest to northeast but from time to time that flip flops and that’s what’s going to happen…and that will push some of the smoke from the Interior towards the Lower Mainland and the coast.”

As of noon on Thursday, Aug. 24, Nanaimo registered a ‘1’, or ‘low’ on the province’s 11-step scale for air quality.

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Forecasts suggest quality should turn to ‘moderate’ by Friday and move higher on the scale into the weekend.

Current forecasts show a ‘6’, or moderate, for Friday evening.

The scale goes from 1 to 10+, representing risk for those with underlying medical conditions or otherwise sensitive to poor air quality.

“I don’t think it’s predicted to get as bad as it was just recently here, the models are predicting levels that would approach the BC Air Quality objective of 25 micrograms per cubic metre, but not predicting levels that have been seen in some parts of the southern Interior over the past week.”

Haga added parts of the B.C. Interior have seen air quality “orders of magnitude” above what the Island can expect.

Information on current air quality levels can be found through the provincial government’s air quality index monitoring page.

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