The Province of Alberta has broken a record for most "smoke hours" this Summer.

A smoke hour is considered when visibility is reduced to 9.7 km or less in smoke. Data is collected by stations with human-made observations 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

These observations were made by Environment Canada from May 1st to September 5th, 2023. 

Many parts of Alberta broke "smoke hours" records. Here are some of the results from reporting stations:

Calgary

New record of 499 hours

Old record of 450 set in 2018

Edmonton

New record of 266 hours

Old record of 229 set in 2018

Peace River

New record of 644 hours

Old record of 238 set in 2018

Grande Prairie

New record of 625

Old record of 194 set in 2018

Cold Lake

New record of 523 hours

Old record of 198 set in 1981

 

In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, Lacombe Online encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the Lacombe Online app.