--- title: "Where is the smoke coming from? | Prince George | PG Pulse" description: "Summer smoke usually comes from wildfires, often far away. Winter advisories come from inversions trapping smoke, exhaust and dust in the valley." url: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/smoke-air-advisories/ markdown: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/smoke-air-advisories.md site: PG Pulse (https://princegeorgepulse.ca), The pulse of Prince George, British Columbia generated: 2026-10-16T16:13:42.366Z --- [Winter, weather and air](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/#weather) # Where is the smoke coming from, and why are there air advisories in winter? Summer smoke usually comes from wildfires, sometimes hundreds of kilometres away; our wildfire dashboard shows fires and the smoke forecast. Winter and early-spring advisories come from temperature inversions that trap smoke, exhaust and road dust in the valley. Checked October 1, 2026. Numbers update on their own. The air quality health index is 1.7 right now (1 to 3 is low risk). In fire season, check the wildfire dashboard for fires near the city and the province’s smoke forecast. In winter, cold air pools in the valley under warmer air above (an inversion), so wood smoke, vehicle exhaust and dust build up until the weather changes; the Province then issues an advisory. People with heart or lung conditions should limit hard outdoor exercise during advisories. ## By the numbers, live - Air quality health index now 1.7 October 16, 2026. PG Pulse live board (Open-Meteo, ECCC, Water Survey of Canada, BC Wildfire Service, BC Hydro, DriveBC, NOAA SWPC). [More on air quality health index now](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/air-quality/) - Wildfire danger rating Very Low October 16, 2026. PG Pulse live board (Open-Meteo, ECCC, Water Survey of Canada, BC Wildfire Service, BC Hydro, DriveBC, NOAA SWPC). [More on wildfire danger rating](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/wildfire/) Still have a question? The assistant answers from all of our live data. [Ask the assistant](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/ask/?q=Where%20is%20the%20smoke%20coming%20from%2C%20and%20why%20are%20there%20air%20advisories%20in%20winter%3F) ## On PG Pulse - [Air quality dashboard](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/air-quality/) - [Wildfire dashboard](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/wildfire/) - [Weather and inversion watch](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/weather/) ## Official sources - [Province of BC: air quality advisories](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/air/air-quality) Link checked October 14, 2026 - [BC Wildfire Service](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status) Link checked October 14, 2026 ## Related questions - [Do I need winter tires or a block heater?](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/winter-tires/) - [How bad is winter, and how do people cope?](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/surviving-winter/) - [What is that smell, and which areas get it?](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/mill-smell/) [All answers](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/) · [Report a problem](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/feedback/) ## More in Living here [See all in Living here](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/browse/#living) - [Moving here Costs, jobs, taxes, services](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/move/) - [Jobs Local openings, searchable](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/jobs/) - [Household costs Rent, power, gas, utilities, fuel](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/tools/household-costs/) - [Housing Rents, prices, new builds](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/housing/) - [Neighbourhoods 31 areas, mapped](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/neighbourhoods/) - [Schools Every K-12 school, college and university](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/schools/) ## Data Machine-readable data behind this page, from the free PG Pulse API (https://princegeorgepulse.ca/developers/). ### Answer Source: [Answers compiled from our own pages and the official sources linked in each answer; live values from our public API](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/). Licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/); each answer links its official sources. Updated 2026-10-14T12:40:01.822Z. JSON: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/api/v1/answers/smoke-air-advisories - **id**: smoke-air-advisories - **theme**: 21 - **topic**: weather - **topicLabel**: Winter, weather and air - **question**: Where is the smoke coming from, and why are there air advisories in winter? - **also**: Air quality advisory, Wildfire smoke - **short**: Summer smoke usually comes from wildfires, sometimes hundreds of kilometres away; our wildfire dashboard shows fires and the smoke forecast. Winter and early-spring advisories come from temperature inversions that trap smoke, exhaust and road dust in the valley. - **answer**: The air quality health index is 1.7 right now (1 to 3 is low risk). In fire season, check the wildfire dashboard for fires near the city and the province’s smoke forecast. In winter, cold air pools in the valley under warmer air above (an inversion), so wood smoke, vehicle exhaust and dust build up until the weather changes; the Province then issues an advisory. People with heart or lung conditions should limit hard outdoor exercise during advisories. - **checked**: 2026-10-01 - **page**: #### facts | key | label | api | value | asOf | source | sourceUrl | href | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | aqhi | Air quality health index now | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/api/v1/now | 1.7 | October 16, 2026 | PG Pulse live board (Open-Meteo, ECCC, Water Survey of Canada, BC Wildfire Service, BC Hydro, DriveBC, NOAA SWPC) | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/ | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/air-quality/ | | fireDanger | Wildfire danger rating | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/api/v1/now | Very Low | October 16, 2026 | PG Pulse live board (Open-Meteo, ECCC, Water Survey of Canada, BC Wildfire Service, BC Hydro, DriveBC, NOAA SWPC) | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/ | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/wildfire/ | #### links | label | url | | --- | --- | | Air quality dashboard | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/air-quality/ | | Wildfire dashboard | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/wildfire/ | | Weather and inversion watch | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/weather/ | #### official | label | url | linkOk | linkCheckedAt | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Province of BC: air quality advisories | https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/air/air-quality | true | 2026-10-14T12:40:01.822Z | | BC Wildfire Service | https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status | true | 2026-10-14T12:40:01.822Z | --- Markdown version of https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/smoke-air-advisories/. 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