{"id":43468,"date":"2025-08-04T01:22:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T01:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/43468\/"},"modified":"2025-08-04T01:22:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T01:22:13","slug":"canada-had-some-of-the-worlds-worst-air-quality-on-sunday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/43468\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada had some of the world\u2019s worst air quality on Sunday"},"content":{"rendered":"

Extensive wildfires burning on the Prairies<\/a> created abysmal air quality problems<\/a> for portions of the country this weekend.<\/p>\n

One community on the Prairies saw such thick smoke that visibility fell as low as you\u2019d expect during a heavy thunderstorm or a snow squall.<\/p>\n

Expect periods of poor air quality to persist into the new week as smoke continues to pose issues for some regions.<\/p>\n

DON\u2019T MISS: Canada’s 2025 wildfire burn area exceeds size of the Greater Toronto Area<\/a><\/p>\n

\"widespread<\/p>\n

widespread wildfire smoke satellite August 3 2025<\/p>\n

Toronto, Montreal air quality readings among world\u2019s worst<\/p>\n

Step outside and you’ll probably smell it\u2014smoke has been a major issue across much of Eastern Canada this weekend.<\/p>\n

Montreal and Toronto made the list for the top-five major global cities with the worst air quality on Sunday. The cities ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, with air quality values in the \u201cunhealthy for sensitive groups\u201d range.<\/p>\n

\"World-s<\/p>\n

World-s worst air quality August 3 2025<\/p>\n

RELATED: Winnipeg just endured its smokiest month on record<\/a><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen ample wildfire smoke push into Eastern Canada this weekend as a result of upper-level winds blowing directly over prolific fires burning in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.<\/p>\n

Favourable conditions helped mix that smoke down to the surface, degrading air quality throughout the region.<\/p>\n

Very thick smoke blankets Fort McMurray<\/p>\n

Thick smoke contributed to downright dangerous air quality across portions of northern Alberta during the day Sunday.<\/p>\n

\"Fort<\/p>\n

Fort McMurray air quality August 3 2025<\/p>\n

Visibility hovered around or below 1 kilometre in Fort McMurray for most of the day Sunday, with the airport reporting exceptionally low visibility of just 200 metres at 5:00 p.m. local time.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring heavy smoke conditions, everyone\u2019s health is at risk regardless of their age or health status,\u201d Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) said in its air quality warning for the region.<\/p>\n

Not only is this level of smoke unhealthy, but such a significant reduction in visibility makes driving hazardous\u2014especially after sunset.<\/p>\n

Expect reduced air quality from Toronto to Halifax on Monday<\/p>\n

Thick smoke will continue mixing down to the surface across portions of Eastern Canada through the beginning of the new week. Vibrant sunrises and sunsets<\/a> aren\u2019t the only side effect we\u2019ll see from this intrusion of pollution.<\/p>\n

\"Air<\/p>\n

Air quality forecast Monday August 4 2025<\/p>\n

RELATED: AQI, AQHI, and your health: Understanding air quality ratings<\/a><\/p>\n

Folks with chronic health conditions should avoid spending significant time outdoors on Monday across parts of southern Ontario, southern Quebec, and the Maritimes amid reduced air quality throughout the region.<\/p>\n

This includes forecast air quality health index values of 6 in Windsor, 7 in Toronto, 5 in Fredericton, and 4 in Halifax.<\/p>\n

A centre of high pressure setting up over Quebec will force smoke to linger across southern Ontario well into the new week, though in reduced quantities with each passing day.<\/p>\n

Header image courtesy of NOAA.<\/p>\n

Stay with The Weather Network for the latest on conditions across Canada.<\/p>\n

WATCH: What do those air quality numbers actually mean?<\/p>\n

Click here to view the video<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Extensive wildfires burning on the Prairies created abysmal air quality problems for portions of the country this weekend.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43469,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[21406,49,48,30757,44,30758],"class_list":["post-43468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-air-quality","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-eastern-canada","tag-news","tag-thick-smoke"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}