nature, Photography

Smoke Scene

50 Comments

We have had extremely smoky conditions since Wednesday with a nearby forest fire contributing a lot of the smoke while more has been heading from those brutal fires 2200 km (1367 miles) to the north of us in the Northwest Territories.

This image courtesy of the B.C. Fire Service shows the smoke billowing from a huge fire about an hour north of us.

After a hazy evening on Wednesday we soon became absolutely choked with smoke and hit a “10” on the air quality index, which means that people really should stay inside unless wearing a mask.

Smoke blanketing the valley at sunset.

Looks rather awful, doesn’t it?

We are thankfully expecting several days of rain within the next 24 hours though, so I hope we will soon be looking more like the above picture very soon!

50 thoughts on “Smoke Scene”

    1. I was hoping we would get through summer without any kind of fire but here we are. The fire is near the Coquihalla Connector and isn’t threatening any homes but the highway is closed. I definitely wouldn’t open any windows in this. For one thing, it smells awful but it’s also such a heavy particulate. The rain is supposed to start tonight and last for the next three or four days. I hope it does!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Just when the Coquihalla reopened because the wildfire was under control (at least as far as highway travel was concerned), now a semi-truck caught fire and the highway is closed again. Best to stay home and hope you don’t have to evacuate it this summer. We have a new fire on the island too and the smoke is not good all over the central island. Pray for rain! Lots of it. I’m sure we’ll get it all winter long, but it would be good to have a downpour now.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. The Coquihalla fire isn’t out and yes, it was closed again because of that truck and then again last night for fire fighting purposes, I believe. We aren’t going anywhere until the end of the month and I hope there’s no need for an evacuation. The forecast is calling for three days of rain starting tonight for the Okanagan and that should put out any local fires. I hope you get lots of rain soon as well. I looked at the weather radar and there’s a huge low moving in that will cover most of B.C. It should drop a lot of rain everywhere, fingers crossed!

          Liked by 1 person

  6. Yikes. Our smoke has left for now, so we will get out for some exercise today. But, the smoke is possibly back on Sunday. No real rain forecast here before the 17th. We are so dry. Happy Saturday Lynette. Allan

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Allan. The smoke moved in so quickly and profoundly. M and I watched it come in over the lake. So thick and smelly, too. I was hoping we would get through summer without a fire but no such luck. The rain is supposed to arrive tonight and last three or four days so that fire should be out soon. Wow – I hope that forecast is wrong but one thing I know about prairie weather forecasting is that it rarely is.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. It’s smoke from the Coquihalla Connector fire (shown in the second picture) that’s sinking into the valley. That highway is closed right now. The rain is supposed to start tonight and last three or four days. I hope the forecast is accurate!

        Liked by 1 person

          1. We’re supposed to get rain for the next three days or so starting tonight, but of course the further out the forecast goes, the less accurate it is, so it’s really hard right now especially with all these fires to be able to determine the best route very much ahead of time. The Coquihalla was reopened yesterday and then closed again in the afternoon for a truck fire followed by another closure during the night for fire fighting purposes. It might be open again now, though. Tracking this has been like following a ping pong ball. Good luck with your trip planning.

            Liked by 1 person

    2. I agree, Belinda. They have been everywhere and so huge and intense. I hate thinking about all the damage to our atmosphere. Climate change … M and I watched the smoke coming in over the lake at sunset and couldn’t believe how fast it was moving. Very thick and smelly, too.

      Like

    1. Thank you very much, John. We’re not in any immediate danger. The fire is up in the mountains and isn’t near any communities or homes but it’s huge, nasty and the smoke is so thick and smelly. The rain is supposed to start tonight and last for three or four days; I hope the forecast is right!

      Liked by 1 person

  11. There are so many wildfires these days; it’s frightening. Your dramatic photos have captured the intensity of the smoke filled skies. (BTW, autocorrect switched ‘intensity’ to ‘intestine’, luckily, I caught it before hitting send!)

    Liked by 1 person

    1. The effects of climate change are starting to make themselves profoundly known. We have had so many fires this summer and they have been so unusually intense, as well. I hate to think of all the atmospheric damage that’s being done. The rain is supposed to start tonight; I hope the forecast is accurate!

      Haha. That’s a good one. Instead of “an intense rain storm” readers could enjoy “an intestine rain storm,” which is a completely different thing. 😉

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I am, too, Mags. It’s supposed to start tonight; I hope the forecast is accurate! M and I watched the smoke rolling in over the lake and couldn’t believe how fast it was, or how thick and smelly, either.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Ally. We’re in no immediate danger, just covered in a thick smoke. Yes, M and I watched the smoke descend into the valley at sunset and it produced this eerie, almost hellish looking scene. We were shocked by how fast it was. The rain is supposed to start tonight; I hope the forecast is accurate!

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Wow that is awful. Scary but great photos though. I reminds of the horrible wild fires in northern Sweden / Arctic in 2018 (I was there). Nothing like it had happened before. Stay safe!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Thomas. We aren’t in immediate danger but all that smoke in the atmosphere is doing such major damage. I remember hearing about those fires in Sweden. Our north has been suffering horribly this year as well as other regions where the fires have been huge and fierce.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. The air quality dropped so quickly! The next day we were completely socked in by smoke and of course it was still hot so going outside was like entering a stinky greenhouse. We have gradually cleared up over the last few days and only have a little haze now.

      Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.