Portage la Prairie residents are seeing some relief as the thick wildfire smoke that shrouded the area over the weekend is beginning to clear.
Shannon Moodie, meteorologist with Environment Canada, says the air quality started improving early Monday morning.
"There’s some heavier smoke lingering in the eastern part of the region, just closer to Winnipeg,” she noted.
Environment Canada and Manitoba Health have issued a special air quality statement for Portage and areas east. In addition, an air quality warning is in effect for areas of the Interlake.
Click here for details.
Showers and cooler temps expected
Moodie says light showers moved through southern Manitoba Monday morning, including Portage.
“I’m not really expecting anything too much in way of amounts,” mentioned Moodie.
Temperatures are expected to remain cooler throughout the week.
“Still quite nice until the weekend when it looks like things will start to warm up again,” added Moodie.
Looking ahead to the weekend, Moodie remarks, “things may get a little unsettled on the weekend, and there may be some chances of precipitation and maybe some thunderstorms.”
Forecast snapshot
Monday will see widespread smoke with a high near 20 C and a moderate UV index of 5.
Clearing will come this evening, with local smoke lingering overnight and lows around 12 C.
Tuesday starts sunny, turning partly cloudy in the afternoon with a 30 per cent chance of showers and a risk of thunderstorms late in the day. Winds will pick up, becoming northwest at 30 km/h gusting to 50 km/h. Highs are expected to reach 23 C.
Clear skies follow Tuesday night with lows around 11 C.
Wednesday promises sunshine and a high near 23 C, with clear, cool overnight lows near 6 C.
Click here for the full forecast.
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