Southwest residents may be noticing more smoke in the air as a cool front makes its way down from the northwest. 

According to Meteorologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada, Terri Lang, due to all the fires currently taking place in Alberta and northern Saskatchewan, a switch in the direction of the wind yesterday will affect air quality in the area. 

“All the smoke is going to move down across parts of southern Saskatchewan so, it's going to get a little bit messy in there,” she elaborated. “I think just the way this cold front is moving and the amount of smoke that's coming up from those fires, I think a lot of it is going to mix down to the surface. It may affect air quality and there may be some special air quality statements issued for the rest of Saskatchewan.” 

Lang added that seeing smoke in the air can be alarming for many residents if they don’t know the source. 

“People shouldn't be shocked when they see the smoke come in and just know that it is coming from northern Alberta, northern Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and now northern B.C., because smoke can travel a fair distance,” she explained. “A lot of people, when they see smoke, they think it's local, but smoke can travel thousands and thousands of kilometres.” 

As of yesterday, the air quality health index was sitting at two before it increased to three at two o’clock in the afternoon. 

As of this morning, the air quality health index was sitting at a 10+. 

“If you have pre-existing conditions with respect to breathing, be aware that the conditions are about to get worse and take the precautions that you need to keep yourself safe such as staying indoors, trying to stay in filtered air, and that type of thing because the smoke particulates pretty small, and they easily come into the lungs,” she concluded.