Western wildfire smoke over the Maritimes Friday

Thick smoke from wildfires blankets the downtown for a second day in Calgary, Alta., Wednesday, May 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

A thin haze created by smoke from the wildfire in western Canada is present over the Maritimes Friday.

Clouds appear as the grey and white clusters. The wildfire smoke is the faint grey haze. (Courtesy: College of DuPage)

“The smoke present at the end of this week is not quite as obvious as the plume that was present last week. No impact to surface air quality is showing up in observations,” says Ian Hubbard, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

The smoke is comprised mostly of tiny particulate matter designated as PM(2.5) with a width of 2.5 microns or smaller. That is about 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair.

PM(2.5) can impact air quality, but the wildfire smoke present for us is aloft in the atmosphere and isn’t expected to impact our air quality. Air quality in the Maritimes Friday is being observed as 1 to 3, or low-risk.

This image points out some of the cloud and smoke on the satellite image. (Courtesy: College of DuPage)

The presence of the wildfire smoke may produce some different colours at sunset Friday evening. Watch for more red or orange hues.

The haze is forecasted to linger into Saturday. It will, however, become more and more obscured by cloud cover increasing from the west. Cloud, rain, and a passing weather front will clear the haze on Sunday.

Longer-range smoke transport models show that it is possible the haze returns on Wednesday of next week.