Eastern Canada getting wildfire smoke, while Edmonton skies stay clear

As wildfires continue to burn in the province, parts of Eastern Canada and the U.S. are experiencing our smoke, but in Edmonton, the sky is strangely clear.

Meteorologists say, don’t expect that to last for long.

While Edmonton has had surprisingly mostly smoke-free skies over the past few days despite devastating wildfires burning just hours away, Sherwood Park RCMP, just east of Edmonton, were left investigating two separate multi-vehicle collisions, caused by near-zero visibility conditions due to smoke and fog.

• READ MORE: 15 people in hospital after pair of major crashes southeast of Edmonton

Meteorologists with Environment and Climate Change Canada say Edmonton could see smoke in the sky this weekend.

“It doesn’t look like the smoke will get particularly widespread, but there can be enough smoke there, especially those that are sensitive to the smoke, there can be enough there to irritate them,” said Terri Lange.

Lange says it’s been wind direction that has mostly kept the smoke out of the sky in Edmonton so far, taking it up into the atmosphere before pushing it east.

“So they’ll see the smoke but they won’t smell the smoke because it’s not mixing down to the surface.”

With hot dry conditions expected for the next few days, Lange says smoke predictions can change quickly.