Smoke Clearing In Oshkosh, AirVenture Preparations Continue

Like much of the northern area of the U.S., Oshkosh has been choking under smoke drifting in from forest fires in Canada but AirVenture officials say the annual show will go on as planned in late July. Readers have reported poor visibility and terrible air quality in recent days, but AirVenture spokesman Dick Knapinski says there's plenty of time for things to improve. "We’re still more than three weeks out," Knapinski said in an email to AVweb. "We’re watching it, just as we would weather events. The event will go on."

The air quality in Oshkosh was rated as unhealthy for a week until improvement started Thursday and it has been in the moderate range since. The smoke is expected to significantly clear over the weekend as thunderstorms push into the area and by early next week the air quality is expected to be good. Long range, it looks like the typical summer pattern of warm days with convective activity will dominate, which should keep the smoke out but will, of course, create its own issues.

But the forecasts only go out two weeks and there is no guarantee that the smoke won't return. The northern U.S. normally welcomes the cool breezes from the north, but if they return they will almost certainly carry smoke with them as Canada battles its worst-ever year for forest fires, particularly in the east. In the west, a couple of weeks of rainy weather has helped control fires in Alberta and like its southern neighbors in Washington, Oregon and California, southern British Columbia, a normal hotspot, has enjoyed a relatively slow start to the wildfire season.