New Yorkers are asked to stay at home and close windows due to 'unhealthy' air in the street: the city was covered with smoke from fires in Canada
'06.06.2023'
Olga Derkach
Thick, pungent smoke from several wildfires in Canada has reached the US, raising air quality concerns in New York City and much of the US Northeast. The edition told in more detail Fox5NY.
Officials are asking those who are sensitive to smoke to stay at home as air quality in the Big Apple reached unhealthy levels on Tuesday, June 6.
According to the FOX Prediction Center, even healthy people can feel discomfort at such levels, and there can be serious consequences for more vulnerable groups.
"Air quality is not very good this morning," FOX Weather meteorologist Britta Mervin said. “Especially in upstate New York, from Pittsburgh to Columbus, Ohio.”
On the subject: Due to warm and dry weather, fires threaten New York: a factory is already on fire in Jersey City
Smoke began to enter eastern New York and western New England on the evening of Monday, June 5.
“We got a lot of sunset photos that were very bright,” Mervyn said. “But there was haze above the sky, and for that there must be enough particles of smoke in the air. This can be a health issue for just about anyone who lives in the northeastern United States."
FOX Weather computer models show lots of smoke in the Northeast on Friday, June 9th. Mervin said the Great Lakes region is seeing some improvement by Wednesday June 7 and Thursday June 8.
Wildfire smoke from Canada will be in New York for most of the day before a cold front helps clear skies a bit on June 7th. Even so, poor air quality will remain a problem for the next few days.
Canada is in flames from coast to coast, with 425 active fires, more than half of which are out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Wildfire Center (CIFFC). So far, the fires have burned 9,39 million acres (3,8 million hectares), 17 times the 20-year average. It's larger than the area of Connecticut.
The fires also forced over 100 people to evacuate. Wildfire season in Canada usually lasts until September.
The US wildfire threat has also reached dangerous levels as unusual weather created a rare critical fire risk in the Philadelphia and New Jersey areas.
