Update: Wind Blows Smoke & Ash Into Okanagan

Update 12:30 pm:

If you were wondering about the ash on your car this morning, officials say it came from a large fire in Washington state that has now burned its way into Canada.

The Diamond Creek fire saw major growth overnight, increasing by 64-hundred hectares, and the smoke and ash from that growth were pushed into our area by southwesterly winds.

The fire is currently burning about 70 km’s west of Osoyoos near Border Lake.

Aug 29 2 pm:

The wildfire smoke is back — and it’s coming from several sources.

Noelle Kekula is the information officer for the Philpott Road fire east of Kelowna.

“The smoke in the valley is from a few fires, one from the US, the Philpott, and likely others, but it’s from many fires, not just ours,” Kekula tells Kiss FM.

Cindy Yu from Environment Canada says much of the low level smoke in the Okanagan is directed from the fire near Diamond Creek fire in Washington state.

“Some of that smoke is tracking northwards into the Okanagan, and right now, we’re seeing kind of a southwesterly wind pushing some higher level plumes into the Okanagan.”

Yu says the southwesterly flow will last for the next two or three days, meaning the smoke will likely stay that long as well.

“At this point, it’s really hard to say when that will change,” says Yu.