Colleen Bready's forecast: Smoke to linger in Manitoba

Wildfire smoke is on the move on Friday in Manitoba.

Winnipeg, along with most of the south, central and northeastern regions are under an air quality alert issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) early this afternoon.

As a pair of lows depart our general area, northwest winds will spread smoke southeast into those warned regions today.

Here in Winnipeg, smoke is expected to show up this afternoon and become widespread by tonight.

ECCC’s air quality index for the city, which forecasts and measures air quality daily, shows a low risk for air pollution early this afternoon. However, the risk of poor air quality will significantly increase as the day wears on into tonight.

The weather agency says that over the next couple of days, the worst air quality should last 12-18 hours before conditions begin to improve.

With the smoke moving into central and southern regions, that should start to bring some relief to northwestern areas where hazier conditions are expected.

After yesterday’s rainfall and cooler temperatures in Winnipeg and the southeast, daytime highs across the south will return to the mid-20s this afternoon.

Parts of northwestern Ontario could see some rain with that same system as it moves eastward today. Smoke will move into the region, too.

As for the weekend, smoke or haze will mitigate the sunshine that’s expected in Winnipeg. Temperatures will be slightly above normal, just pushing into the upper 20s.