Almost all of Manitoba, including the city of Winnipeg, is once again under an air quality warning as smoke from wildfires continues to fill the air.
Environment Canada says that smoke is expected to cause very poor air quality and reduced visibility in some areas.
"We have an air quality warning in Winnipeg and basically across the whole area," says Crawford Luke, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada (EC). "Basically all of Manitoba except for way up north by the Nunavut border. It's a step up from a statement, usually reserved for when the AQHI is extra bad."
In southern Manitoba, conditions are expected to improve by Thursday. However, in northern Manitoba, the poor air quality will persist well into Thursday.
"It looks like at some point on Friday, perhaps in the morning or afternoon, the winds will shift around and come from the south. It's gonna blow all that smoke back to the north so for Winnipeg it should be fresher, cleaner air. That will last Friday and Saturday."
During heavy smoke conditions, everyone's health is at risk, no matter their age or health status.
"Taking a peek at next week, it looks like we'll get into those north winds again. So we could be dealing with smoke again at that time."
Manitobans are encouraged to limit time outdoors and reschedule or cancel outdoor sports, activities and events.
The Manitoba Wildfire Service continues to respond to 120 active wildfires across the province, a total of 331 wildfires to date, well above the average for this date of 243 total fires.