(JOHN MCDONALD / iNFOnews.ca)

Wildfire smoke with health risks off the scale is expected in Kamloops and the Okanagan today, Aug. 17.

It will be accompanied by a “dry cold front” that is expected to bring high winds and dry lightning throughout the region.

There are highway alerts covering all regional highways and heat warnings with temperatures as high as 40 Celsius expected in some areas.

“Widespread southwesterly winds of 30 km/h gusting 50 km/h will develop Thursday morning and switch to northwesterly 20 km/h gusting 50 km/h overnight and into Friday (Southern Interior) as a dry cold front passes,” Environment Canada advises.

“Instability along the cold front may lead to the development of thunderstorms Thursday afternoon and evening. The main hazard is localized severe winds with speeds up to or above 70 km/h and dry lightning. Drought-stricken trees will be more susceptible to winds.”

The Air Quality Health Index, which is a scale of 0-10 with 10 being the highest risk, hit 10+ in the Okanagan last night.

While Kamloops and the Central Okanagan recorded more moderate readings early this morning, the entire region is expected to reach 10+ today.

That means people should stay indoors as much as possible.

The heat warning does talk about temperatures as high as 40 C but it should not get that warm in the Thompson-Okanagan region where highs are forecast to only reach 36 C today.

Overnight lows will be in the 19-20 C range.

There should be some easing of the heat tomorrow with highs expected to only reach 27 C with a 30% chance of showers throughout the region.

The weekend and early next week are forecast to be sunny with highs in the 25-27 C range.

That sunshine, of course, may be affected by wildfire smoke from existing fires near Keremeos and Adams Lake and new fires that could start today or tomorrow.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.

News from © iNFOnews, 2023