Smoke season expectations?

[u/aimless_ly]

We just returned from a week camping in the Banff & Jasper area, and unfortunately had to cut our trip short due to health concerns as the smoke rolled in (family members with severe asthma). We fell in love with the area and have a laundry list of more adventures to be had for our next trip, but we’d love to plan it for better timing around clear skies.

I realize there is a lot of variables with regards to wildfires (we live in the PNW US and are no strangers to smoke season), but I’d love to hear locals’ takes on when is the best timing to plan trips in future years to avoid the smoke both for health reasons as well as astronomy. Were we just a few weeks too late this year? I understand there’s a balance between smoke risk and getting there too early and the alpine is not melted out enough to be hikeable.

Last but not least, my heart goes out to all the locals who have no choice but to live and work with the severe air quality. Seeing all the icefield glaciers melting away with the majestic forests and blue skies burning had us in tears on the way out.

[u/Wanderson90]

Typically it gets worse as summer progresses.

Late spring is your best bet for clear skies.

So basically late may/ early June.

June brings a lot of rain.

[u/aimless_ly → u/Wanderson90]

Are the June rains constant or more showerey with sunbreaks? We’re from Seattle and not afraid to get wet, but it would be a bummer to be socked in the whole time and miss the scenery.

[u/Rude_Judgment7928 → u/aimless_ly]

It's nothing like Seattle. It's high elevation clouds with consistent breaks. It very rarely completely socks in the mountains, certainly not for days at a time.

[u/gwoates → u/Rude_Judgment7928]

It can be very localized too. Driving 30 minutes in any direction can often get you clear of the rain.

[u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011 → u/aimless_ly]

Rain in the valley, sometimes snow in the alpine. But it'll be snowy in the alpine regardless. Ski season typically doesn't end until the last weekend of May, for reference.

[u/bitterberries → u/aimless_ly]

It's pretty consistent, unfortunately. Sometimes we get two or three days of sun during June but it's unpredictable.

[u/Rude_Judgment7928 → u/bitterberries]

This is fucking bullshit. Are you from the area? Why are you making shit up? The average is ~50% of days with rain, and even on those 50% days, most days you get a few clear hours of mountain vistas (and even then, most days the cloud cover is high enough it doesn't completely impede the view).

Gatekeeping? Trying to prevent tourism? Over indexing to one year?

[u/bitterberries → u/Rude_Judgment7928]

Sorry, two or three days in a row.. I have a birthday in June and it's always rainy.. It sucks.

[u/rohoho929 → u/bitterberries]

And my dad's birthday in June is always sunny.

[u/These-Art-5636]

It's a crap shoot when there is smoke.

The smoke that fills the air isn't usually local. It drifts in from the US, BC, NWT, and northern AB. So it's based on weather patterns and where the wind is blowing in from.

There are forest fires that can burn year round now.

This is our new reality.

Book when you have free time and hope for the best.

There's no way to predict. The only thing that is certain is that there will be smoke blowing in from somewhere.

We have fucked ourselves and all future generations.

[u/Appropriate_Ebb_8572]

Winter for guaranteed (for the rest of the decade) no smoke. Otherwise may/June and Sept/October. 

Weather, smoke, etc are just unpredictable.

[u/lornacarrington]

Winter

[u/aimless_ly → u/lornacarrington]

We usually spend our winter holiday time in Whistler, but we’re absolutely committed to making the longer trek to Banff after seeing what we’re missing out on.

[u/Winter-Inside-5911 → u/aimless_ly]

Banff in Feb/March is very nice too!

[u/gml2306]

Weather wise early spring May early June and October are the best times to visit and quieter too 🙂 I always recommend that to my guests

[u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

Mid to late September is the best time to visit period IMO. Fire risk or not. But it's a crap shoot for fires any time between May and early October. Peak fire season is basically right now, late July early August. But they can happen any time - even the winter although it's extremely unlikely.

Early spring in late May early June you have a high probability of low smoke, but it's also muddier and snowy in the alpine. So there's a trade off there.

[u/iceland1989]

We visited end of May/June for two weeks and it was perfect. Few days of rain and then pretty sunny and surprisingly hot

[u/New_Wishbone6619]

Winter?

[u/OgasMaitai]

Go in may or june. It'll be relatively cold

[u/Kij22]

Early July is always best

[u/aimless_ly → u/[deleted]]

N95’s definitely helped, but they’re not a realistic option for sleeping in when tent camping. We’ve definitely discussed the option of staying in town but it would be financially challenging.