SmogRank / Episodes / Canada
Alberta, Canada, August 2024
For 4 days, from 14 to 17 August 2024, 11 cities in Canada had PM2.5 at least twice their usual for the time of year. The worst reading was Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: 152.0 µg/m³ on 14 August, about 13× its usual 12.1.
No cause named We have no fire or smoke records for these days, so we only say what the measurements show.
Cities reached 11 in 1 country
Days 4 14 to 17 August 2024
Worst day 15 August 11 cities counted
Furthest above usual 15× Swift Current
Day by day
Play 15 August 11 cities at twice their usual or more
Prince Albert Cranbrook Lethbridge Calgary Regina Sherwood Park Airdrie Red Deer Saskatoon Medicine Hat St. Albert Edmonton Swift Current 11 Aug 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Every measured city in the area, coloured by its PM2.5 that day; a dark ring marks a city at twice its usual or more. Bars: cities counted each day, coloured by their median level. Choose a day or press play; without JavaScript, the days link to that day's world ranking.
How it spread
Edmonton Edmonton, 11 August: 17.4 µg/m³, 1.4× usual Edmonton, 12 August: 13.2 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Edmonton, 13 August: 13.6 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Edmonton, 14 August: 152.0 µg/m³, 13× usual Edmonton, 15 August: 104.4 µg/m³, 8.6× usual Edmonton, 16 August: 31.9 µg/m³, 2.6× usual Edmonton, 17 August: 41.8 µg/m³, 3.5× usual Edmonton, 18 August: 39.3 µg/m³, 3.2× usual Edmonton, 19 August: 24.7 µg/m³, 2.0× usual Edmonton, 20 August: 12.8 µg/m³, 1.1× usual St. Albert St. Albert, 11 August: 12.7 µg/m³, 1.5× usual St. Albert, 12 August: 10.0 µg/m³, 1.2× usual St. Albert, 13 August: 9.8 µg/m³, 1.2× usual St. Albert, 14 August: 102.0 µg/m³, 12× usual St. Albert, 15 August: 68.0 µg/m³, 8.3× usual St. Albert, 16 August: 19.5 µg/m³, 2.4× usual St. Albert, 17 August: 26.7 µg/m³, 3.3× usual St. Albert, 18 August: 20.7 µg/m³, 2.5× usual St. Albert, 19 August: 18.2 µg/m³, 2.2× usual St. Albert, 20 August: 8.6 µg/m³, 1.0× usual Airdrie Airdrie, 11 August: no reading Airdrie, 12 August: no reading Airdrie, 13 August: 14.9 µg/m³, 1.6× usual Airdrie, 14 August: 38.3 µg/m³, 4.2× usual Airdrie, 15 August: 65.1 µg/m³, 7.1× usual Airdrie, 16 August: no reading Airdrie, 17 August: 22.5 µg/m³, 2.4× usual Airdrie, 18 August: 15.2 µg/m³, 1.7× usual Airdrie, 19 August: 9.9 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Airdrie, 20 August: 5.8 µg/m³, 0.6× usual Calgary Calgary, 11 August: 14.1 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Calgary, 12 August: 13.4 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Calgary, 13 August: 16.1 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Calgary, 14 August: 34.1 µg/m³, 2.7× usual Calgary, 15 August: 57.4 µg/m³, 4.6× usual Calgary, 16 August: 39.3 µg/m³, 3.1× usual Calgary, 17 August: 28.6 µg/m³, 2.3× usual Calgary, 18 August: 17.3 µg/m³, 1.4× usual Calgary, 19 August: 11.9 µg/m³, 1.0× usual Calgary, 20 August: 7.8 µg/m³, 0.6× usual Medicine Hat Medicine Hat, 11 August: 11.7 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Medicine Hat, 12 August: 12.7 µg/m³, 1.4× usual Medicine Hat, 13 August: 14.0 µg/m³, 1.6× usual Medicine Hat, 14 August: 29.9 µg/m³, 3.4× usual Medicine Hat, 15 August: 78.3 µg/m³, 8.9× usual Medicine Hat, 16 August: 35.2 µg/m³, 4.0× usual Medicine Hat, 17 August: 11.5 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Medicine Hat, 18 August: 10.1 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Medicine Hat, 19 August: 8.7 µg/m³, 1.0× usual Medicine Hat, 20 August: 6.1 µg/m³, 0.7× usual Saskatoon Saskatoon, 11 August: no reading Saskatoon, 12 August: 14.0 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Saskatoon, 13 August: 14.1 µg/m³, 1.2× usual Saskatoon, 14 August: 29.0 µg/m³, 2.4× usual Saskatoon, 15 August: 99.0 µg/m³, 8.1× usual Saskatoon, 16 August: 40.8 µg/m³, 3.3× usual Saskatoon, 17 August: 41.3 µg/m³, 3.4× usual Saskatoon, 18 August: 32.4 µg/m³, 2.7× usual Saskatoon, 19 August: 24.3 µg/m³, 2.0× usual Saskatoon, 20 August: 11.4 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Swift Current Swift Current, 11 August: 13.5 µg/m³, 1.5× usual Swift Current, 12 August: 9.9 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Swift Current, 13 August: 11.9 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Swift Current, 14 August: 16.3 µg/m³, 1.8× usual Swift Current, 15 August: 137.0 µg/m³, 15× usual Swift Current, 16 August: 64.9 µg/m³, 7.0× usual Swift Current, 17 August: 19.8 µg/m³, 2.1× usual Swift Current, 18 August: 10.2 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Swift Current, 19 August: 10.2 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Swift Current, 20 August: 7.8 µg/m³, 0.8× usual Red Deer Red Deer, 11 August: 11.9 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Red Deer, 12 August: 13.9 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Red Deer, 13 August: 15.1 µg/m³, 1.5× usual Red Deer, 14 August: 22.3 µg/m³, 2.1× usual Red Deer, 15 August: 77.6 µg/m³, 7.5× usual Red Deer, 16 August: 28.6 µg/m³, 2.8× usual Red Deer, 17 August: 25.8 µg/m³, 2.5× usual Red Deer, 18 August: 21.9 µg/m³, 2.1× usual Red Deer, 19 August: 13.9 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Red Deer, 20 August: 4.8 µg/m³, 0.5× usual Regina Regina, 11 August: 13.8 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Regina, 12 August: 16.2 µg/m³, 1.5× usual Regina, 13 August: 9.9 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Regina, 14 August: 12.7 µg/m³, 1.2× usual Regina, 15 August: 61.0 µg/m³, 5.5× usual Regina, 16 August: 59.8 µg/m³, 5.4× usual Regina, 17 August: 52.2 µg/m³, 4.7× usual Regina, 18 August: 31.5 µg/m³, 2.9× usual Regina, 19 August: 12.5 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Regina, 20 August: 10.7 µg/m³, 1.0× usual Sherwood Park Sherwood Park, 11 August: 11.8 µg/m³, 1.5× usual Sherwood Park, 12 August: 9.2 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Sherwood Park, 13 August: no reading Sherwood Park, 14 August: no reading Sherwood Park, 15 August: 54.6 µg/m³, 6.7× usual Sherwood Park, 16 August: 18.6 µg/m³, 2.3× usual Sherwood Park, 17 August: 26.6 µg/m³, 3.3× usual Sherwood Park, 18 August: 27.1 µg/m³, 3.3× usual Sherwood Park, 19 August: no reading Sherwood Park, 20 August: 9.6 µg/m³, 1.2× usual Lethbridge Lethbridge, 11 August: 8.3 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Lethbridge, 12 August: 10.8 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Lethbridge, 13 August: 9.9 µg/m³, 1.0× usual Lethbridge, 14 August: 14.8 µg/m³, 1.6× usual Lethbridge, 15 August: 38.2 µg/m³, 4.0× usual Lethbridge, 16 August: 23.3 µg/m³, 2.5× usual Lethbridge, 17 August: 5.3 µg/m³, 0.6× usual Lethbridge, 18 August: 8.8 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Lethbridge, 19 August: 6.5 µg/m³, 0.7× usual Lethbridge, 20 August: 3.5 µg/m³, 0.4× usual 11 Aug 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Every counted city, in the order the episode reached them, 3 days before to 3 after. Each square is a day, coloured by that day's PM2.5; outlined: at twice the city's usual or more. Good 0–50
Moderate 51–100
Sensitive groups 101–150
Unhealthy 151–200
Very unhealthy 201–300
Hazardous 301+
Every city it reached
City Days Highest Usual Above usual
Swift Current Saskatchewan, Canada 2 15 August 9.3 15× Edmonton Alberta, Canada 4 14 August 12.1 13× St. Albert Alberta, Canada 3 14 August 8.2 12× Medicine Hat Alberta, Canada 3 15 August 8.8 8.9× Saskatoon Saskatchewan, Canada 2 15 August 12.2 8.1× Red Deer Alberta, Canada 3 15 August 10.4 7.5× Airdrie Alberta, Canada 2 15 August 9.2 7.1× Sherwood Park Alberta, Canada 2 15 August 8.1 6.7× Regina Saskatchewan, Canada 2 15 August 11.0 5.5× Calgary Alberta, Canada 4 15 August 12.5 4.6× Lethbridge Alberta, Canada 1 15 August 9.5 4.0×
Daily means in µg/m³. Usual: the city's median for this time of year (its days within 21 days of the date, every year, leaving out the week around it). Above usual: its highest day against that.
Against other episodes in Canada
Number 17 of 24 episodes in Canada since our records began, by cities reached.
North-eastern United States and Canada, July 2025 119 North-western United States and Canada, August 2023 110 North-western United States and Canada, September 2025 54 North-western United States and Canada, May 2023 42 North-western United States and Canada, July 2024 31 North-eastern United States and Canada, September and October 2023 30 North-western United States and Canada, May 2023 24 South-eastern Canada and United States, December 2024 23 North-western Canada and United States, August and September 2023 19 South-eastern Canada and United States, August 2025 18 North-western Canada and United States, July 2024 17 North-western Canada and United States, July 2023 17 Alberta, Canada, August 2024 11 Bars: cities reached; colour: the level of the episode's highest daily reading. All 24 .
Use this page SmogRank, Alberta, Canada, August 2024: 11 cities with PM2.5 at twice their usual or more, 14 to 17 August 2024, smogrank.com/episodes/2024-08-alberta-canada (accessed 3 October 2026).
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You're welcome to reuse a single chart, image or figure with this citation and a link. Terms .
An episode is a run of days when many cities close to each other (four or more within 350 km on a day, 8 or more in all) each had a daily PM2.5 mean of at least 25 µg/m³ and at least 2 times their usual for that time of year. Found in our own measurements, not picked by hand. How we find episodes . Values are each city's daily mean of its own monitors; causes are the usual kinds for a pattern like this, not a confirmed source.
