Southern Alberta shrouded in smoke from B.C. fires

Calgary and parts of southern Alberta are seeing a late start to the wildfire smoke season, with fires in B.C. and the northwestern U.S.  pushing a thick layer of smoke into the region.

Environment and Climate Change Canada is forecasting the brunt of the haze to blanket Calgary by late Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning, bringing Calgary to a peak Air Quality Health Index (AQI) rating of 7 out of 10.

Forecasting smoke is a tricky task and predictions are constantly changing.

With 188 wildfires burning in B.C. as of Tuesday morning, Calgarians can expect on and off smoky conditions.

"This recent decade we're seeing much more frequent and large fires generating a tremendous amount of smoke impacting our air quality," said Jack Chen, modelling scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

It's a similar story for Airdrie and Lethbridge, which are expected to peak in the high-risk zone of the AQI by Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

The smoke is also having a noticeable impact on the weather.

"When you have that dense pile of smoke, and you are underneath that and heavy smoke above you, it's cooler underneath, and it's really affecting the weather," said Paul Makar with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

"We’re trying to modify the weather forecast setup we use, so we can do a better job at predicting the temperatures."

One of the wildfires of note in B.C. is near Hope, where officials were forced to issue an evacuation alert and partially close a major highway for several hours.

A full breakdown of all active wildfires in B.C. can be found here.