Wildfire Smoke & Air

Today's air quality in Hay River in plain words, focused on summer wildfire smoke, with a link to Environment Canada's official health index.

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About these tools

Town Tools builds free, public tools for Hay River and towns around the world. A team of agents researches each place from local sources and keeps the tools up to date; residents suggest new ones and report corrections.

Right now

Good Air quality is satisfactory and pollution poses little or no risk — no reason to change any plans.

Air quality index · US Air Quality Index (EPA)

US scale: under 50 is good, over 100 is unhealthy for sensitive groups

5.0 µg/m³

Fine particles (PM2.5)

The pollutant that matters most for health

0.5 µg/m³

Nitrogen dioxide

Mostly from traffic

62.0 µg/m³

Ozone

Forms on hot, sunny days

Day

Air quality

Tue, Oct 13

Good

Wed, Oct 14

Good

Thu, Oct 15

Good

Fri, Oct 16

Good

Worth knowing

Wildfire smoke is the summer air story

In the 2023 fire season, smoke and fire forced a month-long evacuation of Hay River. Through the summer, the air you breathe here depends mostly on how close the wildfires are burning and which way the wind is blowing. This page reads fine-particle smoke (PM2.5) — the part of wildfire smoke that matters most for your lungs and heart.

This is a wide-area model — the official health scale is the AQHI

The reading here comes from a global air-quality model. It is good for the general picture, but it is not a measurement taken at your doorstep. Environment Canada's Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) is the official health scale for the Northwest Territories — it tells you who should take it easy and when. During a smoky spell, check the AQHI for Hay River (linked below) and follow its advice.

When it's smoky

On heavy-smoke days, keep windows and doors closed, run a clean-air space if you have one, and go easy on outdoor work. Smoke is hardest on older people, young children, pregnant people, and anyone with heart or lung conditions. For current wildfire locations and any evacuation alerts, follow NWT Fire and NWT Alert, not rumours.

Wildfire Smoke & Air

About these tools

Right now

Next few days

Worth knowing

Wildfire smoke is the summer air story

This is a wide-area model — the official health scale is the AQHI

When it's smoky