Hazy déjà vu? U.S. wildfire smoke set to return to B.C.
Wildfire smoke from south of the border is expected to drift back into B.C. this week, as winds aloft are forecast to be out of the south and southwest over the coming days––increasing the likelihood of smoke pushing in.
Multiple fires burning in Washington state are threatening to push smoke across the international border over the coming days.
Fourteen large fires are burning in the state, with most of the fire clusters in the Olympic and Cascade mountains, just a few hundred kilometres from British Columbia. Winds aloft are forecast to be out of the south and southwest over the coming days, increasing the likelihood of smoke pushing in.
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The closest fire is just burning 70 kilometres from Victoria, south of Sequim, Wash. There is major precipitation disparity across the province, as more than 200 mm of rainfall has fallen in Prince Rupert, B.C., this month, while parts of the Lower Mainland have received less than 10 mm.
More wildfire smoke with wind change
An area of high pressure is sliding east towards Montana and Wyoming, allowing southerly winds to loft smoke from south to north.
Wildfires are burning in sections of Washington state that are experiencing severe drought, which need a significant pattern change to reverse the favourable wildfire conditions.
Local smoke conditions are subject to uncertainty depending on precise wind conditions, but current smoke models suggest an increase in smoke in the eastern Fraser Valley and the Similkameen regions, including the Okanagan area.
We are watching sections of the eastern Lower Mainland and Victoria for light haze, but air quality is expected to remain moderate or better.
By Wednesday, a fresh round of smoke is forecast to settle across a wide swath of the Interior, with winds remaining out of the south for another day.
WATCH: Vancouver Island: any drought relief in sight for the south island?
2025 Air quality check-in
Vancouver (Burnaby)
248 days of good air quality (less than 50 micrograms)
Seven days at moderate (50-100 micrograms)
One day at fair (100-150 micrograms)
Kelowna
245 days of good air quality (less than 50 micrograms)
Three days moderate (50-100 micrograms)
Two days of unhealthy (100-150 micrograms)
Air quality has been worse in previous years, including the record-setting 2021 wildfire season, where, for three weeks, air quality stations measured air at unhealthy or lower levels throughout the southern Interior.
Has this happened before?
Smoke from the U.S., from time to time, drifts north, and one of the worst examples of this was in September 2017. That year, severe wildfires in California and Oregon transported significant smoke up the entire Pacific Northwest into southern B.C.
(RAMMB/NOAA)
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In 2020, record-setting September heat wave, coupled with Diablo and Santa Ana winds, drove a fresh surge of California wildfires across the state.
This smoke appeared like a dense wall on satellite imagery, bringing some of the worst air quality on record to the Lower Mainland.
(RAMMB/NOAA)
When looking at the long range, there won't be a disruption to the ridge of high pressure across southern B.C. throughout the week.
However, we will be watching the final few days of September for a possible shift to the mean storm track across the South Coast, but confidence is low.
Stay updated on potential air quality alerts as conditions evolve.
WATCH: Wildfire smoke wafts across Western Canada, impacting air quality
Stay with The Weather Network for all the latest on conditions across B.C.