With wildfire season in full swing and smoke from northern Alberta, British Columbia, and northern Saskatchewan blanketing the southeast in a thick haze, the smoke isn't clearing quickly thanks to temperatures in the mid-30s.
Brian Proctor, a Meteorologist with Environment Canada said this is thanks to the same weather system.
"All that smoke previously moved southeastwards down through Saskatchewan down into Manitoba, and we have seen a little bit of a change in the surface circulation over the last little while, and what it’s doing is bringing that smoke back up into the province," he explained.
As the weather system causing the recirculation is rather stable, the smoky conditions are predicted to worsen in the short term. However, the system is expected to weaken as it moves further southeast, bringing a return to more seasonal weather later this week.
"We’re more likely to see patchier smoke drifting in from fires over British Columbia and Alberta, as opposed to the fumigation events we’ve seen," Proctor noted.
"We have lots of questions about how that smoke settles as the upper ridge comes in, it may just be a brief shot of increased smoke and then we flush it fairly quickly after that. It really just depends on how fast that upper ridge lapses on Wednesday and Thursday."
As the wildfire smoke lingers, concerns over poor air quality and associated risks from long-term exposure are greater for those with respiratory difficulties or compromised lung capacity.
Proctor added that he suspects the air quality won’t cause long-term issues for much of the general public who like to be active outside.