Environment Canada has issued an Air Quality Advisory for all of Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – If you’ve been outside lately or have your windows open at home, you may have smelled or seen some smoke in the air.

An air quality advisory has been issued for the eastern part of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, and while you might expect it’s because of the wildfire smoke in the sky, that’s not really the case.

According to Environment Canada Meteorologist Trevor Smith, it’s actually because of high concentrations of ground-level ozone.

“The elevated levels of ozone are expected to persist for several days,” Smith says. “It’s a by-product of fuels burned from combustion, like car exhaust and that combines with the sunlight and the warm temperatures to produce this high levels of ozone.”

The thing about ozone is that it’s a lung irritant, so young children, the elderly and those with lung or heart disease or asthma are particularly at risk.

As mentioned, the wildfire smoke — which is also wafting in from as far as Eurasia and Alaska, as well as Richmond — isn’t the reason for the advisory.

“That could become a concern,” Smith adds. “We’re still expecting warm temperatures for a couple of more days, so certainly if other fires broke out that could cause the level of particulat matter to increase to unhealthy levels.

“But at this time, the main concern is from the ozone, and we don’t really see that changing until the weather changes which is not expected to be until mid-week when we finally get some cooler air, some of that marine air will finally flush out this dirty, stagnant air and we’ll see a return back to more normal temperatures by about Wednesday or Thursday of next week.”

People are being reminded to avoid strenuous activity outdoors, especially in the mid afternoon to evening hours when ozone levels are highest.

Check in with your doctor if you’re feeling any discomfort like shortness of breath or coughing or wheezing.

Things are heating up

Things are about to get worse when it comes to how hot it is around the Lower Mainland.

Smith says we haven’t set any records so far this week, but temperatures are expected to go up over the next few days.

“We’ve seen highs kind of in the low-30s to around 30 degrees over the inland areas for the last few days, but for Sunday and Monday we’re expecting temperatures to hit 34 or 35 degrees so we’re going to be pushing record values for the day.”

The heat warning is also still in effect.

Things are a bit cooler towards the water, where Smith says temperatures are forecast to hit about 26 or 27 degrees.

“If you do need to get some relief from the heat, certainly getting closer to the water would be the way to go.”

Environment Canada issued a heat warning on Sunday for all of Metro Vancouver.