Smoke at Banff and Jasper?
 

We are considering a visit to friends in Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper. Will smoke from the Canadian wildfires be a problem?

Keep up to date with the Parks Canada website, which will also point you to the relevant Alberta and British Columbia websites on fire and smoke.

http://pc.gc.ca/en/nature/science/co...wildland-fires

Thank you. This will be helpful.

Conditions vary considerably from day to day.

In general, the answer is that you likely will see haze from the smoke, but it won't be an issue.

Jasper has seen little to no smoke from the fires in Banff/Kootenay - the little smoke they are getting is from farther north in BC. Not been much of an issue.

Lake Louise has generally been just fine, though sometimes there can be lingering smoke. Usually clears off pretty quickly as wind/weather patterns change.

Banff townsite and Canmore are probably the most affected, but it really, really varies. In the morning, skies can be clear and in the afternoon you can barely see the mountains. Then fine again the next morning. Besides not booking non-cancellable tickets for things like gondola rides, I wouldn't worry. What happens, happens.

Currently air quality has not been much of an issue unless you have a pre-existing health issue that would be significantly affected by smoke. The above link provides links to air quality websites. If air quality is poor enough to be a health issue, the provincial health authority will issue an alert. You can also see air quality alerts on the official government weather website (weather.gc.ca).

We appreciate your very specific reply. You covered exactly the questions I was concerned about.