Saskatchewan has been finding its way through a smoke-filled summer over the past few months, but with improving conditions, clear skies might be the norm heading forward for the area. Northern Saskatchewan has had a number of wildfires form, with firefighters from across the province helping out, including Estevan Fire Rescue.
Now the conditions up there are clearing up, says Environment and Climate Change Canada Meteorologist Crawford Luke, even if it's not all clear yet.
"It's really improved dramatically over the last few weeks, which is really nice, because I know we've been dealing with it a lot this year. We've seen a couple of new fires pop up in the extreme far north, and then there's some developing in the northwest territories as well. At the same time, we've actually seen some fires develop over parts of the U.S. west, so in places like Idaho, Utah, and the western part of the U.S. So there are still fires burning out there."
Active wildfires have been dropping significantly, with 79 reported on August 15th, and the newest update shows that 40 are currently burning, thanks to recent rainfalls.
As the rains are coming down and tamping down any potential smoke rolling into the southeast, Luke says any changes in the weather aren't likely to bring down smoke.
"We'll really have to see. Right now, there's really nowhere near as much smoke being produced as there was a month ago. A lot of that is just because the fires have taken a hit from the rain. Even if we had a north wind today or tomorrow, and I think we will get into a bit of a north wind tomorrow afternoon, actually, but it shouldn't really be a smoky wind."
"There was a time earlier this summer when any time the wind was out of the north, it was basically automatically smoky. But certainly, we've seen other points this summer that the situation can change quite quickly. It's going to be hot and dry for, you know, a week or more coming up here. So we'll definitely have to keep a close eye on things.
Despite the decreasing smoke, Luke still calls for people to keep an eye on the forecast until they can assure no smoke is in the air for Saskatchewan.
"We're definitely not out of fire season or smoke season just yet. But certainly, it's good news for southern Saskatchewan in general that the fires that were causing all that smoke, the fires that are closest to these areas, have improved significantly."
"Going forward, it looks like, at least for the next little while, that should remain the case. But we'll have to keep an eye on things for sure, because, I'm sure as you've seen, the forecast is basically calling for a stretch of hot, dry weather now for basically the entire province. So it'll definitely be something we'll have to keep an eye on."
Saskatchewan is expected to stay hot in the southeast over the week, with 30-degree temperatures throughout.