Forestry crews are monitoring four slash burning sites north of Port Alberni whose smoke has caused concern in the Alberni Valley. …Because of a temperature inversion and uncharacteristically low relative humidity for the area—Effingham Inlet weather station on the west coast was reporting 20–30 per cent relative humidity, which is unheard of in a rainforest at this time of year, MacPherson said—conditions became dry, and the smoke stayed around the area instead of moving off. The dry conditions caused these burns to spread beyond the area listed in their burn plans.