Wildfire Smoke & Air
Today's air quality in Hay River in plain words, focused on summer wildfire smoke, with the official Environment Canada health index.
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Today's air quality in Hay River in plain words, focused on summer wildfire smoke, with the official Environment Canada health index.
Today's air quality in Hay River, in plain language, updated through the day. In summer the question here is almost always wildfire smoke.
Good The air is about as clean as it gets — no reason to change any plans.
| Day | Air quality |
|---|---|
| Sat 20 Jun | Fair |
| Sun 21 Jun | Fair |
| Mon 22 Jun | Fair |
| Tue 23 Jun | Fair |
In the 2023 fire season, smoke and fire forced a month-long evacuation of Hay River. Through the summer, the air you breathe here depends mostly on how close the wildfires are burning and which way the wind is blowing. This page reads fine-particle smoke (PM2.5) — the part of wildfire smoke that matters most for your lungs and heart.
The reading here comes from a global air-quality model. It is good for the general picture, but it is not a measurement taken at your doorstep. Environment Canada's Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) is the official health scale for the Northwest Territories — it tells you who should take it easy and when. During a smoky spell, check the AQHI for Hay River (linked below) and follow its advice.
On heavy-smoke days, keep windows and doors closed, run a clean-air space if you have one, and go easy on outdoor work. Smoke is hardest on older people, young children, pregnant people, and anyone with heart or lung conditions. For current wildfire locations and any evacuation alerts, follow NWT Fire and NWT Alert, not rumours.
Updated . These are modelled estimates for the area around Hay River, not readings from a street monitor — air right beside a busy road can be worse than the area-wide picture. Official forecast: weather.gc.ca. Air quality data by Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0), based on Copernicus CAMS.