The skies over the Lower Mainland were hazy Saturday with smoke from wildfires in Alaska and Asia, as well as closer to home in Richmond, but it was the sustained hot weather that prompted the region to issue an air quality advisory.
The notice, which Metro Vancouver issued Saturday afternoon, was for ground-level ozone, which forms when certain chemicals in the air react to sunlight.
Metro Vancouver recommends avoiding strenuous outdoor activities in the afternoon and evening, when ozone levels are highest. The agency said it expects the advisory to remain in effect until the current stretch of hot weather ends.
Above-average temperatures - in the high 20s on the coast and the low 30s inland - have been consistent for more than a week, prompting Vancouver’s Board of Parks and Recreation to extend hours at its pools and spray parks.
Cooling centres are open around the region, shelters are working to keep their clients hydrated, and the public is being asked to check on those especially vulnerable during hot weather.
“If you know someone who is an elderly person who is perhaps living by themselves in a single family home or an apartment or a condo, reach out to them,” said Daniel Fontaine, CEO of the BC Care Providers Association.
The heat and the lack of rain has led to fire bans across the Lower Mainland, and much of the province remains under heat warnings.
Temperatures are expected to return to normal by the end of next week.
With files from CTV Vancouver’s Breanna Karstens-Smith
