Wildfire smoke: Midwest blanketed with haze as unhealthy air heads back to Northeast
Jack Birle
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Several states in the Midwest are waking up to unhealthy air conditions as people in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast prepare for worsening air quality, weeks after the region was blanketed with an orange haze.
Air quality in Detroit, Michigan, was rated as hazardous on Wednesday morning as officials in Washington, D.C., are warning of a drop in air quality for the day.
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Parts of Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and western New York are seeing unhealthy air quality conditions on Wednesday morning, with the smoke from Canadian wildfires expected to travel east over the next few days.
In Washington, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments forecast a code orange for Wednesday, advising that “air is unhealthy for sensitive groups, including older adults, children, and people with heart or lung disease.” While in New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) is warning that poor air quality is expected to affect the Empire State through Thursday.
“We’re already seeing unhealthy air quality in Western New York, Central New York and the Eastern Lake Ontario regions. If you’re heading out for the day, especially if you’re in a vulnerable group, check the latest air quality information and take steps to protect yourself,” Hochul tweeted on Wednesday.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams also warned of the potential for decreased air quality on Wednesday and Thursday, although forecasters at the National Weather Service believe the Washington and Philadelphia areas are more likely to see poor air quality conditions.
The air quality decreases for much of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic are not expected to reach levels seen earlier this month, when New York City had the worst air quality in the world and was engulfed in a thick haze of smoke.
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The smoke blanketing much of the country this week, along with earlier this month, has been from various wildfires in Canada.
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center said there are 479 active wildfires in the country, with 253 rated as “out of control.” A combined 177 of the fires are in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, which border states as far west as Minnesota and as far east as Maine.