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“We are concerned about another high-impact season,” he said. “Obviously smoke would become a big concern.”

Wildfire season can’t be fully predicted because of all the variables. It becomes a game of “wait-and-see” as to where the fires will develop and how large they grow, according to Gillham. Last summer broke a record for most consecutive smoky hours, with 322 recorded hours of smoke consuming the city. The record had been set the previous year with 315 hours — before that, the record hadn’t been broken since 1969 with 269 recorded hours of smoke.

“We are concerned we will have comparable days (to last summer)where smoke is a major issue, but we hope we’re wrong on that. You always want to verify a forecast; this is one that we hope does not get verified.”

Well-timed rains and greater caution from people are two variables that could decrease wildfire numbers, sizes and smoke levels. Since people can’t control lightning or precipitation pattern, the most direct way people can help prevent fires is to be safer with fire, said Gillham.

Photo by Leah Hennel / Postmedia

“Some of the fires are preventable and some aren’t. Hopefully, some of the preventable fires cannot occur this year and this season isn’t as severe as last year.”

Chief meteorologist Chris Scott said his network is predicting slightly below average precipitation for Alberta, but not to the point where farmers should be concerned about drought conditions.

“Alberta’s always the swing province in terms of weather,” he said. “We expect that to be the case again this summer with it really flipping between warm and cool depending on the week.”