A cooler Thursday, but smoke continues to linger in Calgary

A low-pressure system has finally released Calgary from a heat warning, but poor air quality will continue to be a problem for the city and the surrounding areas on Thursday.

An air quality advisory from Environment and Climate Change Canada remains in place for Calgary for Thursday, with the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) forecast to remain in the high-risk category throughout the day.

The upper low that started to track in over the mountains Wednesday night did provide some rain to wildfire-affected Jasper, but the bulk of the rain will fall in parts of northeast Alberta later Thursday, triggering rainfall warnings with the potential of 100mm+ of precipitation for some areas.

Calgary could see some isolated thunderstorms on Thursday afternoon associated with this low, but again, the most intense activity will remain north of the city.

From a smoke standpoint, this upper low should help funnel a good amount of the particulate matter lingering in southern Alberta right now and push it into Saskatchewan, but with minimal rain potential for the next five days, poor air quality could return to Calgary and the surrounding area as long as wildfires continue to burn.

On a positive note, temperatures have started to moderate throughout southern Alberta, giving us a much-needed break from the stifling heat.

Calgary’s high today will be a refreshing 22 C and remain in the mid twenties for the rest of the week.