You may notice a bit of a haze in the air this week. In part, it’s coming from central Canadian wildfire smoke.
We’re keeping a close eye on it, but unless you are unusually sensitive to fine airborne particles, it won’t have a big impact on you. At most you’ll see some colorful sunrises followed by a little haziness in our otherwise blue skies over the next few days.
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WATCH HEREIt is, however, a much different story for those in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and the upper peninsula of Michigan. The wildfire smoke in that region is heavy and close to the surface.
Air quality on Tuesday and Wednesday is expected to be in the “unhealthy” category for those areas, even tipping to “very unhealthy” at times. Under these conditions, health effects from exposure to the smoke become increasingly likely.
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SIGN UP As this smoke travels from the Midwest to the Northeast, it disperses considerably, greatly reducing the concentration of the smoke that blankets the tri-state. Much of the smoke will stay aloft, too, further reducing the intensity and impact along the East Coast.
Late Tuesday into Wednesday, the Air Quality Index (AQI) — the scale indicating the level of pollution in our air — will enter the “moderate” category. Despite the slight reduction in air quality, it will have little to no impact on health.
The impacts of the wildfire smoke will peak on Wednesday and we will gradually see improvements throughout the rest of the week. But even at the “peak” we don’t anticipate wildfire smoke to have a health impact in the tri-state area.
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Ozone, on the other hand, could take our AQI into the “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” category. On hot and sunny days, especially in urban areas, that heat and sunlight react chemically with pollutants in the air to form ground level ozone, which can be very irritating to people with respiratory problems. An Air Quality Alert is very likely for Wednesday.
For most of us, the wildfire smoke and ground level ozone won’t pose a major issue other than creating hazy horizon. Weather this week will be sunny, hot, and beautiful, so take full advantage of the weather and spend some time outside. Enjoy a meal al fresco or take in the sea breeze on the beach. Air quality won’t get in your way.
