Vancouver has blue skies overhead, but anyone with a sensitive nose might be picking up the scent of smoke in the city's air.
The smoky smell is coming down the coast from areas north, west, and northwest according to Environment Canada meteorologist Johnathan Bau.
"The northwest winds picked up in the afternoon and they're bringing some of the smoke either from the Sunshine Coast or Vancouver Island," he says.
While narrowing the source down more specifically is difficult, he says the 80-hectare South Clowhorn fire could be the culprit given how close it is. However, given the direction of the wind and the number of fires in the area, it could be other fires or several fires supplying the smoke. On the island, the Mount Con Reid fire remains out of control, having grown to over 2,320 hectares.
"The wind is west to northwest direction right now so it's coming off the Straight of Georgia," the meteorologist says.
As Thursday warmed up, Bau adds, the winds picked up a bit, which is likely why the smell seems to have increased this afternoon. Overnight it's expected the winds will subside.
"In theory, we shouldn't be smelling any smoke by tomorrow morning or afternoon," he says.
However, the forecast shows winds may be similar on Saturday, so Metro Vancouver may smell smoke from the fires again this weekend.
According to a spokesperson from Metro Vancouver, the air quality in Vancouver isn't being significantly impacted.
"At the moment, our air quality is low-risk and below advisory thresholds," they say in an email to V.I.A.
