A cyclist makes their way across the Tawatina pedestrian bridge while others take in the North Saskatchewan River below in Edmonton on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. Haze created by wildfire smoke is visible in the background. Photo by David Bloom /Postmedia file photo

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Many Edmontonians woke up Monday morning to a stoppage in June’s record rainfall but when they looked outside they likely saw a haze of smoke in the air.

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Wildfires from northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba have resulted in heavy smoke filtering into the region, and it’s expected to last a few days.

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“The extreme northern portion of Saskatchewan and Manitoba have been exceptionally dry, and it’s quite warm as well up in those areas, even into the southern portion of the Northwest Territories,” said Brian Proctor, meteorologist with Environment Canada, in an interview with Postmedia on Monday morning.

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“It’s got some really significant wildfire activity occurring in northeast Saskatchewan and northern Manitoba, and we’re not seeing any relief from that for a while.”

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Monday’s forecast calls for a mix of sun and cloud and a high of 27 C. There’s a 30 per cent chance of showers and wind gusts of up to 40 km/h are expected.

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Thunderstorms could be in store Monday evening, and local smoke could turn into fog patches overnight.

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Air quality in the northeast area of the province is in the moderate-to-high-risk range, but Proctor said Edmonton’s air quality is forecast for low to moderate risk on Monday.

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“I don’t think we’ll be heavily impacted by it, but it will problematic for people with respiratory issues,” said Proctor.

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Over the weekend, Edmonton broke a 112-year record for June rainfall. The previous record was set in 1914 with 216.5 mm of rainfall, and currently the city has endured 265 mm of rain.

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With the recent heavy rainfall the North Saskatchewan River is extremely high at the Capilano Park boat launch on Friday, June 26, 2026. Photo by Greg Southam /Postmedia

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The all-time record for rainfall in a single month in Edmonton was when 282 mm fell in July, 1901.

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Over the next two days, there’s a 30 per cent chance of scattered showers.

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“In general terms our forecast over the next couple of days is kind of in the middle of whether we’re going to achieve it or not to be perfectly honest. Whether or not the precipitation we get is sufficient or widespread enough to hit our stations remains to be seen,” said Proctor.

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“One of problems with these kind of weather events is we tend to get some embedded convection into the rain shield so other areas receive more precipitation than what we’re reporting at some of our stations.”

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Proctor said the Edmonton region will be warmer than normal on Monday and Tuesday, as Canada Day approaches, but as July begins, more unsettled patterns of weather are expected.

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“Over the next couple days, we’re actually warmer than normal. We’ll be reaching 26 C or 27 C, and our normal highs are around 22 C. But we may not see it start to really warm up until further into July,” said Proctor.

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In recent years, Albertans have experienced increasingly volatile weather, with extreme cold in winter and a growing number of summer heat waves, droughts and heavy rainfall events.  Proctor says climate models suggest these kinds of swings are becoming more common as the climate changes.

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“One of the things I would say when we look at some of our climate change is our modelling associated with climate change. There’s a clear signature coming out of the models,” said Proctor.

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“We’re seeing high variability in the models and output, so high variability in terms of climate events or storm events. So more big rainfalls, more drought events, more heat and cold events is what we seem to be experiencing over the last few years.”

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