Smoky summer skies due to Canadian wildfires

BISMARCK, N.D. ( KXNET ) — If you look outside, you may notice a haze or maybe even a smell of smoke in the air. An upper northwest flow is bringing in more smoke from wildfires out in Alberta, Canada. There are also fires around Alaska and Washington state.

With this hot week ahead of us, some of the smoke can actually be good, and act as a small cloud between the sun’s heat and us. It’s also the reason for the red sun you see in the evening hours of the day.

Right now, smoke forecasters say that the smoke shouldn’t affect us too much because the winds are helping to keep the smoke away from the surface.

“Because of the northwest flow pattern that’s aloft, that’s directing the smoke directly into North Dakota. Most of it is staying aloft right now,” explained Megan Jones, a Meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Bismarck. “But, there is always that potential for that smoke to mix down to the surface. That’s something we’re always keeping an eye on because it will start to impact visibilities as well as the air quality impacts at the surface,” said Jones.

Jim Semerad, the Air Quality Director with the state’s Department of Air Quality, said that if you do look up the air quality map this year, it will look a lot worse than it actually is. That’s because, Jones said that they changed the map colors and how they coordinate with the amount of smoke in the air. He suggests for everyone to read up on the colors and what they mean because the health effects are still the same on people’s bodies.

“You have to know how those emissions affect you directly. Maybe on a hot day, if you’re exercising extensively, they’re going to affect you. Maybe if you have a preexisting condition, they’re going to affect you differently. So, know your own body and listen to it listen to the signals it’s giving you,” said Semerad.

Semerad and Jones both said that these fires are large, and we could see the haze linger into the next few weeks. If you would like to learn how to keep up to date with the air quality conditions, you can look at the Air Quality website , and here’s the direct link to the interactive air quality map for North Dakota: AirNow Interactive Map (epa.gov) .

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