With files from Hayden Michaels 

Another day, another special air quality statement in West Central.

As we kick off the long weekend, smoky skies have blanketed the region to the point where visibility is less than a couple of kilometres in areas.

The reason why all of the smoke from those fires has ended up in the region is because of a weather pattern that emerged yesterday in Alberta. 

Rose Carlsen, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, explains just what happened. 

"There was a minor disturbance that went through central Alberta and down through into southeastern Saskatchewan," said Carlsen. "What it did as it moved southeast was wrap up a whole bunch of that wildfire smoke from the north around behind it and funelled it down into southwestern Saskatchewan."

This smoke has dragged the air quality down in the area, marking an air quality index of 11. During these extreme smoke conditions, folks are strongly encouraged to stay inside and to drink lots of water. 

"It's unfortunately probably going to be still pretty bad for the rest of today," said Carlsen. "We're expecting it to start easing overnight, and then tomorrow should start to really clear up."

West Central Online will provide any updates as they emerge.  

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