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Rain will likely help clear smoky air from wildfires in eastern Canada starting Sunday, but it may not reach fires in the province of Quebec until a few days later, a weather forecaster said Saturday. government.
As of Saturday morning, there were 426 fires across Canada, including 144 in Quebec. Wildfires in Canada occur regularly in the summer, but the scale of the current conflagration – and its early arrival – is unprecedented.
Fires on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts have forced thousands of Canadians from their homes, and smoke has taken the breath out of residents from Toronto to New York.
Federal meteorologist Gerald Cheng told reporters on Saturday that rain was expected beginning Sunday in southern Ontario and southwestern Quebec, which could help clear the smog.
Rain is expected to hit the northernmost regions of Quebec – where the biggest fires are raging – starting Tuesday, but only 10 to 20 mm (0.4 to 0.8 inches) are expected, Cheng said.
“Our concern is that it doesn’t rain too much,” he said.
Authorities say by Monday about 1,200 firefighters, including more than 100 French, will be battling the blaze in Quebec, a densely forested province of 8.5 million people that covers more territory than Germany, l Spain and France united.
More than 13,000 people were evacuated from towns in northern Quebec.
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