Wildfire smoke chokes Lethbridge, air quality advisory remains

There’s over 100 fires still burning in British Colombia along, with smoke making its way east to our province. Lethbridge and Calgary have been under air quality advisories for the past week, with similar conditions expected to linger throughout the weekend.

Smoke continues to choke southern Alberta from wildfires stemming from British Columbia and the Northwestern US states.

Lethbridge is under two yellow weather alerts for air quality and heat. The city hit a high of 7 on the air quality index on Thursday and managed to surpass to 8 today.

7 and higher and the air quality index is considered to be high risk for the general population, with environment Canada recommending that people spend less time outdoors, and avoid strenuous activities.

If you are going to be outdoors, you may experience headaches, a mild cough, and irritations to eye, throat and nose. People more likely to be impacted by wildfire smoke, including people aged 65 and older, pregnant people, infants and young children, people with an existing illness or chronic health condition It’s best if you have plans to be outdoors to consider rescheduling and stay indoors. Keep all the windows and doors shut and even acquire a good quality air filter if you don’t already have one.

Saturday is expected to hit a weekly high of 35 degrees while air quality will moderately improve down to 4 on the index.