Hope all of you in the Great White North are safe from the wildfires we are hearing about, and sometimes seeing the smoke from.

Mike

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On 17 Jul 2026, Mike Powell said the following...

Hope all of you in the Great White North are safe from the wildfires we are hearing about, and sometimes seeing the smoke from.

Thankfully no fires in my area but lots of smoke and air quality warnings.

This week was very eerie at a couple of points, outside was very orange, dark & hazy. Stepping outside you could instantly smell the smoke & just walking across the parking lot at work was enough to make my throat feel kind of sore.

Lots of people up north are dealing with evacuation orders while others have lost their homes. Thankfully no have been no reported injuries or deaths as a result of the Ontario fires.


Jay

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Thankfully no fires in my area but lots of smoke and air quality warnings.

We are getting some of those down this way also. I have not experienced much of it yet, but they are predicting that tomorrow will be bad.

This week was very eerie at a couple of points, outside was very orange, dark & hazy. Stepping outside you could instantly smell the smoke & just walking across the parking lot at work was enough to make my throat feel kind of sore.

After I asked this question, I did some research. I saw some footage from a guy in Thunder Bay. He said he was a bit south of where some of the worst fires are. The sky there on some days he filmed looked similar to what you are describing. Looked somewhat like Tatooine from Star Wars. :D

Found an interactive map that made it look like most of the fires in his area were west and northwest of Thunder Bay, and west of Red Rock and Nippigon... three places I have been before.... and closer to Lake Nippigon. Looked like there was at least one fire somewhere between Wawa and the Soo... a couple of other placed I have visited.

Lots of people up north are dealing with evacuation orders while others have lost their homes. Thankfully no have been no reported injuries or deaths as a result of the Ontario fires.

Yeah, let's hope all of those involved stay safe! Some people and homes in Minnesota have also apparently been affected.

Mike

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Hope all of you in the Great White North are safe from the wildfires

>we are hearing about, and sometimes seeing the smoke from.

Toronto had the worst air quality in the world 2 days ago due to
the smoke drifting through from far away. Today Toronto dropped
to number 3 with Detroit, Mich. and Minneapolis, Minn. in first
and second place.. or should that be last and second last ?

Where I am, about 140 miles (225 km) North of Toronto, there
are no fires close to here but the smoke has generated severe
warnings about being outside in it. It looked overcast and
foggy a few days ago and smelled like smoke but, on the plus
side, it dropped the temperature from 82F (28c) to about
73F (23c) making it easier to stay inside with windows closed
to avoid the smoke. After 2 days of that we got some rain and
that has helped some to clean the air.

To add to the fun Trump is threatening new tariffs on Canada
because of the smoke, as if we have any control over that.
Currently there are over 797 wildfires in Canada after putting
162 put out in recent days. Yesterday they said there were over
100 new fires caused by lightning strikes so it's not like we
can be directly blamed for causing them. Most start in places
where there are no people living.

The premier of Ontario said that every time there have been
run-away fires in the USA, Canada has sent people and equipment
to help fight them and he figures we 'neighbours' should be
helping each other out rather than trying to attach blame..

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Rob Mccart wrote to MIKE POWELL <=-

Toronto had the worst air quality in the world 2 days ago due to
the smoke drifting through from far away. Today Toronto dropped
to number 3 with Detroit, Mich. and Minneapolis, Minn. in first
and second place.. or should that be last and second last ?

I think MN is dealing with some fires of their own, too.

are no fires close to here but the smoke has generated severe
warnings about being outside in it. It looked overcast and
foggy a few days ago and smelled like smoke but, on the plus
side, it dropped the temperature from 82F (28c) to about
73F (23c) making it easier to stay inside with windows closed
to avoid the smoke. After 2 days of that we got some rain and
that has helped some to clean the air.

Glad to hear you are getting some relief.

To add to the fun Trump is threatening new tariffs on Canada
because of the smoke, as if we have any control over that.
Currently there are over 797 wildfires in Canada after putting
162 put out in recent days. Yesterday they said there were over
100 new fires caused by lightning strikes so it's not like we
can be directly blamed for causing them. Most start in places
where there are no people living.

I mostly agree. IIRC, Trump made some misguided remarks last year
when there were fires but, also IIRC, some of those turned out to be arson. IMHO, I am sure Trump has no clue and isn't thinking this way but it might
give one some ideas about increasing the penalties for getting caught
causing such destruction.

I was wondering why he'd not said anything yet this year but here we are. :(

Back to the topic, though, I was watching a Canadian weather/fire report a couple of days ago (Thursday or Friday). They mentioned that the areas in
NW Ontario (i.e. the most affected areas) were expecting thunderstorms
which, if they brought rain might help but they were also expecting some
dry lightning, which would not help.

I was actually surprised they mentioned dry lightning. I tend to think of
that as something that happens in areas near the high Rockys. I didn't
realize that it was a threat in that part of Canada, too.

The premier of Ontario said that every time there have been
run-away fires in the USA, Canada has sent people and equipment
to help fight them and he figures we 'neighbours' should be
helping each other out rather than trying to attach blame..

I agree 100%. It would be much more productive to allocate some
resources to help put the fires out vs. more (very unhelpful) tariff talk.

Mike


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Toronto had the worst air quality in the world 2 days ago due to
the smoke drifting through from far away. Today Toronto dropped
to number 3 with Detroit, Mich. and Minneapolis, Minn. in first
and second place.. or should that be last and second last ?

I think MN is dealing with some fires of their own, too.

That came out last night in another report, that currently in
the USA there are something like 560 active fires in 28 states
covering about 760,000 square acres so we are both getting hit
pretty hard this year, although there is obviously a LOT more
of it in Canada at the moment.

foggy a few days ago and smelled like smoke but, on the plus
side, it dropped the temperature from 82F (28c) to about
73F (23c) making it easier to stay inside with windows closed
to avoid the smoke. After 2 days of that we got some rain and
that has helped some to clean the air.

Glad to hear you are getting some relief.

The smoke hasn't gotten as bad in recent days but that cooler
weather has really hit. We just got used to 85f weather and
it dropped below 70f today, and will stay down there for the
next several days with some nights as cold as 55f. Every week
is an adventure lately.. B)

To add to the fun Trump is threatening new tariffs on Canada
because of the smoke, as if we have any control over that.
Currently there are over 797 wildfires in Canada

Bump that up to 900+ now.. 209 of them considered 'out of control'..

100 new fires caused by lightning strikes so it's not like we
can be directly blamed for causing them.

I mostly agree. IIRC, Trump made some misguided remarks last year

>when there were fires but, also IIRC, some of those turned out to be arson.
>IMHO, I am sure Trump has no clue and isn't thinking this way but it might
>give one some ideas about increasing the penalties for getting caught
>causing such destruction.

There were some arson fires last year, although I haven't heard of
any so far this year and very few were even caused by human accident.
It's almost all at the whims of nature..

I was wondering why he'd not said anything yet this year but here we are. :(

Back to the topic, though, I was watching a Canadian weather/fire report a

>couple of days ago (Thursday or Friday). They mentioned that the areas in
>NW Ontario (i.e. the most affected areas) were expecting thunderstorms
>which, if they brought rain might help but they were also expecting some
>dry lightning, which would not help.

I was actually surprised they mentioned dry lightning. I tend to think of

>that as something that happens in areas near the high Rockys. I didn't
>realize that it was a threat in that part of Canada, too.

I never gave it much thought. I've seen it the odd time, but possibly
I was mistaken and it was just some noise before the rain started
or when we didn't get hit with the rain but it was close by.

I don't know if altitude affects that or not. This area is just under
600 feet above sea level, although that wouldn't be much compared
to a mountain area..

It would be much more productive to allocate some resources to

>help put the fires out vs. more (very unhelpful) tariff talk.

Some states and other countries are helping out, and we have
over 5000 fire fighters at work and about 300 water bomber
aircraft so it's not like we are ignoring it. But they do
generally start work where the fire is closer to where people
live and a Lot of Northern Ontario and Canada is a long way
from civilization so some of those areas may not get too much
attention other than us praying for rain..

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The smoke hasn't gotten as bad in recent days but that cooler
weather has really hit. We just got used to 85f weather and
it dropped below 70f today, and will stay down there for the
next several days with some nights as cold as 55f. Every week
is an adventure lately.. B)

55F at night sounds wonderful right now. :D

Back to the topic, though, I was watching a Canadian weather/fire report a

>couple of days ago (Thursday or Friday). They mentioned that the areas in
>NW Ontario (i.e. the most affected areas) were expecting thunderstorms
>which, if they brought rain might help but they were also expecting some
>dry lightning, which would not help.

I was actually surprised they mentioned dry lightning. I tend to think of

>that as something that happens in areas near the high Rockys. I didn't
>realize that it was a threat in that part of Canada, too.

I never gave it much thought. I've seen it the odd time, but possibly
I was mistaken and it was just some noise before the rain started
or when we didn't get hit with the rain but it was close by.

I don't know if altitude affects that or not. This area is just under
600 feet above sea level, although that wouldn't be much compared
to a mountain area..

From what (little?) I remember from meteorology class, the high altitude causes the air to be drier which means the rain has more of a chance to evaporate before it hits the ground. So, on the ground, you have a thunderstorm with little or no rainfall associated with it.

With an area that has been on fire, the heat could be drying the atmosphere in the fire area out.

It would be much more productive to allocate some resources to

>help put the fires out vs. more (very unhelpful) tariff talk.

Some states and other countries are helping out, and we have
over 5000 fire fighters at work and about 300 water bomber
aircraft so it's not like we are ignoring it. But they do
generally start work where the fire is closer to where people
live and a Lot of Northern Ontario and Canada is a long way
from civilization so some of those areas may not get too much
attention other than us praying for rain..

That all makes perfect sense, so long as the person reading/hearing it is at all sensible. ;)

Mike

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We just got used to 85f weather and
it dropped below 70f today, and will stay down there for the
next several days with some nights as cold as 55f.

55F at night sounds wonderful right now. :D

You'd think so until it hits you.. B)

It was cool again today, high 60's F, although it didn't feel so
cool since the sun was out, but it was breezy too. I figured it
might be a good day to cut the grass since the breeze and cooler
temps would discourage biting flies some. But by the time I
finished I was feeling pretty hot so working tends to make you
feel the heat more, as we all know..

Not quite your typical 'lawns' here.. Lots of hilly areas and
rough ground and cutting around bushes and rocks so it's a bit
more work than cutting grass in town..

From what (little?) I remember from meteorology class, the high altitude

>causes the air to be drier which means the rain has more of a chance
>to evaporate before it hits the ground. So, on the ground, you have a
>thunderstorm with little or no rainfall associated with it.

I guess my 600 foot elevation isn't enough to have a big affect
on something like that.. Mostly I appreciate it because, should
the polar ice caps, etc. melt, it would only raise ocean levels
by something like 200 feet so I'll still be above water here.. B)

(Florida and Manhattan, etc. would be a different story..)

With an area that has been on fire, the heat could be drying the

>atmosphere in the fire area out.

Yes, they often talk about big fires literally changing the climate
in the local area, making their own wind and such.

Some states and other countries are helping out, and we have
over 5000 fire fighters at work and about 300 water bomber
aircraft so it's not like we are ignoring it. But they do
generally start work where the fire is closer to where people
live and a Lot of Northern Ontario and Canada is a long way
from civilization so some of those areas may not get too much
attention other than us praying for rain..

That all makes perfect sense, so long as the person

>reading/hearing it is at all sensible. ;)

No comment on 'sensible presidents'.. B)

But it's no wonder you can't keep up with the fires when we
have 900 of them burning at once. Our 5000 fire fighters and
300 water bomber aircraft wouldn't make much of a dent in that..

In Ontario here they were saying that there have been about
560 fires so far this year where, in a normal year, we only
get something like 350. 'Only' 188 fires are burning at the
moment showing how many have already been put out so far..

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