Canadian wildfire smoke continued to block out the sun and turn skies yellow over states across the Northeast on Wednesday and pushing Massachusetts to issue an air quality alert warning sensitive residents to be careful.
Massachusetts issues air quality alert
As per the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), air quality statewide is expected to be unhealthy for sensitive groups because of high levels of fine particles (PM2.5). MassDEP said, “Sensitive groups include people with heart or lung disease, such as asthma, older adults, children, teenagers, and people who are active outdoors.”
The alert will stay in effect until midnight Thursday, according to MassDEP.
Smoke from a cluster of wildfires around western Ontario started covering the northeastern US on Tuesday and conditions are expected to continue through Wednesday. More than 830 wildfires were burning in Canada as of midday Wednesday, as per the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System.
Around greater Boston, air quality readings near noon showed “moderate” ratings around the city and “unhealthy for sensitive groups” ratings to the north around Lynn, according to MassDEP’s MassAir data cited by Boston Herald.
MassDEP advised people sensitive to air quality to “reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion, take more breaks, do less intense activities, follow asthma action plans, and keep quick relief medicine handy.”
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Why skies are yellow?
An extensive plume of thick wildfire smoke has drifted directly into New England, turning skies a milky, yellow-brown hue and triggering air quality alerts, according to WBUR. The source of the dramatic sky is a cluster of aggressive wildfires burning in Ontario, Canada and northern Minnesota.
Strong winds, along with a powerful jet stream, pushed the wildfire smoke directly toward the Northeast.
Air quality alerts are now in effect from New York and Philadelphia to Washington, DC and west to the Great Lakes. People with asthma, COPD, or other breathing problems have been advised to spend less time outdoors.
As per WBUR, the smoke is extremely thick in some areas. In northern Wisconsin, morning webcams showed harbor boats completely hidden by dense surface smoke.
In Holderness, New Hampshire, the haze was so thick on Wednesday that the sun was only a faint glow. On Mt Washington, one meteorologist said it looked like Mars outside. In Boston, the Air Quality Index reached around 130 on Wednesday morning, putting it in the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” category.
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What comes next: A second wave of smoke on
Thursday
While the smoke makes breathing difficult, it is also expected to create incredibly vivid, fiery sunrises and sunsets.
Wednesday night: The thickest smoke will stay over central and southern New England, especially along and south of the Mass Pike, through Connecticut and the South Coast. Only far northern Maine will escape the worst of it. The smoke should thin out slightly overnight.
Thursday: After a nice sunrise, a second wave of thick smoke is expected to move back into New England Thursday afternoon, bringing more ground-level smoke and that smoky smell, as per WBUR.
