Smoke hung over Prince George for a good chunk of the summer.
This year, Prince George was under a smoke advisory from July 24 to Sept. 9 (a total of 48 days), says Lisa Erven, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.
"There were times Prince George was pulled from the smoky skies bulletin, mainly due to the redirection of smoke by wind," she says. "The overall situation throughout the Interior remains fairly stagnant for a lot of places, so even though Prince George came in and out a handful of times, it was steady for the entire period. "
At one point, inhaling air in Prince George was the same as smoking eight cigarettes.
The air quality health index uses a scale of one to 10 to rate air quality. Anything over 10 is classified as very high risk (a hazardous health risk). The ratings are as follows: low risk (one to three); moderate risk (four to six); and high risk (seven to 10).
Right now, the air quality index sits at a one or a two daily. During the 48 days under a smoke advisory, Prince George was consistently between high risk and very high risk, which prompted Northern Health to issue multiple health bulletins.
