Wildfire smoke and showers are forecast for Metro Vancouver as August begins.
The above-average temperatures will be put on pause, says Environment Canada meteorologist Yimei Li, though they won't be gone too long.
B.C. Day, on Monday, Aug. 4, will see the long weekend end with some cloudy skies and average temperatures, Li tells V.I.A.
"Monday will almost be a rinse and repeat of what's happened Sunday," she says, noting things will likely start off cloudy, but the sun will break through later in the day.
However, that sun will be dimmed by smoke from wildfires in Washington state.
"There are a few fires just south of the border, so there's some smoke coming up from the states," Li explains.
While the air may smell smoky, it's not expected to be dense enough to trigger air warnings.
A high of 22 C is expected Monday.
Midweek shift
The smoke will continue to drift into Canada on Tuesday, Aug 5.
"It could keep on spreading in the Metro Vancouver area until the precipitation comes," says Li.
Luckily, while Vancouver has been relatively dry recently, precipitation is expected this week. There's a low chance showers will arrive on Tuesday and a high chance on Wednesday.
A system from the northwest of BC moving south is expected to brush past Vancouver (it's mostly expected to hit the interior). While brushing past, the trough of low pressure could cause up to 5 mm of precipitation from late Tuesday to early Thursday, Aug. 7.
The showers are expected to both move the smoke out and bring temperatures down. Highs of 20 C to 22 C are expected from Tuesday to Thursday, Li says.
Throughout the early and mid-week overnight temperatures are expected to remain in the 14 C to 16 C range. While the days will be cooled by the showers, the cloud cover will keep some of the heat of the day in at night.
Warm weekend expected
The showers are expected to be strongest on Wednesday and to dissipate through Thursday, Li says, and on Friday a new ridge of high pressure is predicted to build up again.
Highs in the high 20s are currently forecast, she adds, but there's still uncertainty.
"It looks like temperatures are rising starting Friday and peaking maybe early next week," Li says.
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