233159

West Kelowna  

Time lapse of valley smoke

A refresher for those longing for clear skies in the Okanagan.

West Kelowna resident Darin Shaw has captured snapshots of air quality from his property in the middle of summer in each of the past three years.

The clear photo was taken July 29, 2016, while the smokier middle photo was captured Aug. 10, 2017. The bottom photo was snapped on Saturday.

The photos are taken from the Tallus Ridge neighbourhood looking east towards Okanagan Lake, with Shannon Lake in the foreground.

From the clear, blue top photo, a grey haze obstructed the view in the same timeframe last year, cutting off the view of Okanagan Lake in the distance. On Saturday, an eerie smokescreen hampered visibility significantly and put Shannon Lake out of view, which is barely more than one kilometre away.

Shaw says Saturday's haze was the worst he's seen the air quality this year — conditions which were observed up and down the valley. 

The air quality health index was at a 10-plus rating late Saturday evening for the Central, North and South Okanagan due to wildfire smoke. Conditions were projected to drop down to rating of eight on Sunday morning, which is still considered to be a high health risk. 



More West Kelowna News