Smoke is the main weather story to start September after intense heat took over the final week of August.
Updated at 4:02 AM on Tuesday morning, the region is currently under an Air Quality Warning.
During this time according to Environment Canada, smoke is causing very poor air quality and reduced visibility in some areas. These conditions can vary heavily from hour to hour, but prompt caution as only extended periods of smoke are flagged by the weather service.
Everyone is vulnerable in the smoke. Make sure to limit time outdoors if possible, and if staying indoors, to limit the entry of smoke into your home.
Other tips from Environment Canada include:
- Limit time outdoors. Reschedule or cancel outdoor sports, activities and events. You may experience mild and common symptoms such as eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches or a mild cough.
- More serious but less common symptoms include wheezing, chest pains or severe cough.
- If you think you are having a medical emergency, seek immediate medical assistance.
- When indoors, keep windows and doors closed as much as possible. When there is an extreme heat event occurring with poor air quality, prioritize keeping cool.
- Protect your indoor air from wildfire smoke. Actions can include using a clean, good quality air filter in your ventilation system and/or a certified portable air cleaner that can filter fine particles.
- If you must spend time outdoors, limit the time as much as possible. A well-constructed, well-fitting and properly worn respirator type mask (such as a NIOSH-certified N95 or equivalent respirator) can reduce your exposure to the fine particles in the smoke.
- Even though exposure may be reduced, there can still be risks to health. Check in on others who are in your care or live nearby who may be more likely to be impacted by outdoor air pollution.
In addition to time outside still being complicated by smoke, things are a little cooler with cloudy weather in store for at least the start of the week. Highs are expected in the low 20-degree range after racing up close to 30 all week long, with another warmup possible after the weekend.
In the meantime, nighttime lows are dropping significantly to start the week. Farmers might want to monitor their fields a little closer with frost possible on Tuesday night alongside the forecasted lows of 2-3 degrees.