Satellite: Wildfire smoke chokes southern B.C.

The silhouette of mountains around Revelstoke could barely be made out Monday morning due to thick smoke blanketing the area. Photo: Aaron Orlando/Revelstoke Mountaineer

Wildfires in Washington state and B.C. continue to blanket southern B.C. in smoke on Aug. 24, leading to heath warnings and weather alerts in some parts of B.C.

The above NASA satellite image shows the state of smoke saturation on Sunday, Aug. 23.

The West Columbia region where Revelstoke is located isn’t under an Environment Canada weather alert as of mid-morning Monday, but most areas south of here are.

Likewise, the Kootenay region is under an air quality alert, with heath authorities warning off strenuous exercise and recommending other precautions due to poor air quality.

There are no wildfires of note in the Revelstoke area, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service. There are six wildfires of note in the Southeast, including the 190-hectare Big Sheep Creek fire near Rossland, the 1,100 hectare Deer Creek Park fire near Castlegar, the 200-hectare Lynch Creek fire near Grand Forks, the 480-hectare Mount Midgeley fire near Creston, the 300-hectare Paulson Pass fire near Christina Lake, and the 4,500-hectare fire west of Rock Creek. In addition, the massive 19,240-hectare Stickpin fire in Washington state is located just 4.5. kilometres from the border.

In Revelstoke, skies were choked with smoke on Sunday and Monday.