Smoke Forecasts

These smoke forecasts are produced by the BlueSky Canada Smoke Forecasting System operating at the University of British Columbia. Smoke forecasts are published during the Canadian wildland fire season, which runs from April to September. For more information about the system, see The BlueSky Canada Wildfire Smoke Forecasting System.

The BlueSky Canada forecasting system was developed through the collaborative efforts of the following partners:

• B.C. Ministry of Environment
• B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations
• Alberta Department of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development
• Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment
• Manitoba Health
• Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
• Natural Resources Canada
• Environment Canada
• Parks Canada
• University of British Columbia
• United States Forest Service
• Government of Northwest Territories

In addition to these partners, the BlueSky Canada project is supported by the Canadian Safety and Security Program (CSSP-2012-CP-1182) which is managed by Defence Research and Development Canada's Centre for Security Science.

BlueSky Canada smoke forecasts are considered experimental because they are produced by a system that is an ongoing research project and subject to uncertainties in fire emissions, weather forecasts and smoke dispersion. For example, the system uses satellite imaging to locate fires. If there is cloud cover or smoke that obscures the detection of fires from space, the resulting smoke from these fires will not be accounted for in the forecasts.