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Air quality advisory cancelled for Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley

Air quality rating in Chilliwack down to two out of 10 from a high of five on Tuesday
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A change in the weather Wednesday was enough to cancel the air quality advisory for the Lower Mainland.

Metro Vancouver had issued an air quality advisory Tuesday for the entire region including Chilliwack and as far as Hope.

As of noon Tuesday, the air quality health index (AQHI) in Chilliwack was at a four on the scale of one to 10, meaning a “moderate health risk.” That went up to five later Tuesday but down to two by 10 a.m. on Aug. 30.

READ: Air quality advisory issued for Chilliwack

Just before noon Wednesday, the advisory was cancelled.

“Air quality throughout the region has now improved as a result of a change in the weather pattern,” the advisory stated.

The Metro Vancouver advisory noted that forest fires in areas outside the region remain active. And if smoke from these fires causes air quality to deteriorate again, another advisory may be initiated.

READ: Second Harrison Lake fire 95.5 hectares and 60 per cent contained

Francis Ries, the air quality climate change division project engineer with Metro Vancouver, said much of the smoke from far away doesn’t have a huge impact on local air quality.

“This smoke is coming all the way from southern Oregon, northern California and some fires in Washington, so by the time it gets here, the smoke is quite high in the atmosphere,” she said adding, however: “We are definitely seeing the impact of that smoke at our monitoring stations.”

- with files from Katya Slepian


@PeeJayAitch
paul.henderson@theprogress.com

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