new York – Thick, acrid smoke from wildfires burning across Canada invaded the skies over the Northeast, prompting air quality alerts for New York and much of the northeastern U.S.
Officials urged those sensitive to smoke to stay indoors as air quality reached unhealthy levels in the Big Apple on Tuesday.
Air quality levels reached “very unhealthy” in the afternoon and continued to rise into the evening.
At these levels, even healthy people may experience health effects from secondhand smoke, while sensitive groups may experience even more severe effects, the FOX Forecast Center said.
“The air quality this morning is not great,” said FOX Weather meteorologist Britta Merwin. “What you're trying to identify are areas marked in red that are unhealthy for everybody. Upstate New York, a little spot outside of Pittsburgh, (and) in Columbus, Ohio. We also have a spot very close to New York. “
Smoke drifting over the Interstate 95 corridor began sneaking into eastern New York and western New England early Monday afternoon.
“We got a lot of sunset photos that were very vivid with that sun glare,” Merwin said. “But to see this haze over the sky is enough smoke particles in the air that it could be an air quality concern, not just for sensitive groups but for almost everyone living in the Northeast.”
FOX Weather computer models show a lot of smoke for the Northeast through Friday. Merwin said that toward the Great Lakes, some improvements are noticeable Wednesday and Thursday.
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“It looks best along Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Superior. But unfortunately, the conveyor belt keeps moving it to the northeast,” he added.
Canada is burning from coast to coast with 425 active fires, more than half out of control, according to Canadian Interagency Center for Forest Firefighters (CIFFC). So far, the fires have charred 9.39 million acres, 17 times the 20-year average. It is larger than the area of Connecticut.
The fires have also forced more than 100,000 people to flee. The fire season in Canada usually lasts until September.
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The threat of wildfires closer to home has also reached dangerous levels, as an unusual weather pattern has created a rare critical fire danger for the Philadelphia and New Jersey areas.