Canada’s wildfire smoke is finding its way back to the northeru us
Less than a week after the latest round of wildfire smoke obscured the skies of the Midwest and Northeast, portions of the United States may experience a drop in air quality.
More ground-level smoke has returned to the United States less than a week after the previous round of Canadian wildfire smoke obscured the skies of the Midwest and Northeast, sparking many air quality advisories. This time, though, it has a greater reach across the northern states.
Following the latest intrusion of wildfire smoke, air quality in the Northeast and Midwest had improved dramatically by Monday, thanks to thunderstorms that washed the particles from the air. However, AccuWeather analysts predict that the smoke will move from the Canadian Rockies and Prairies into the neighbouring northern Plains and Northwest United States on Wednesday, resulting in poor air quality and reduced visibility.
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The Northeast and Midwest will not escape the week without smoke in the sky. In the short term, poor air quality has been recorded in various major cities, including Washington, D.C., New York City, and Detroit, owing to residual smoke from July 4th fireworks. While this is expected to lessen over the day on Wednesday, air quality levels may be harmful for some in the morning.
Later this week, there is a chance of smoke as well as the return of poor air quality when a surface high moves into the Upper Midwest, bringing a northern wind into the area and in the Northeast. Meteorologist Joseph Bauer of AccuWeather
AccuWeather meteorologists are presently assessing if the Northeast and Midwest will experience the same level of smoke as the previous week. According to the current forecast, while some high-level smoke in the form of hazy sunshine may return to the Northeast later this week, widespread low-level smoke from fires in eastern Canada may remain until this weekend or into next week.
According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC), there were over 600 active fires across Canada as of Monday. By Tuesday morning, the total number of acres burnt this year had surpassed 21 million. South Carolina has a total land area of roughly 20.5 million acres. The previous high point was reached in 1995, when wildfires destroyed over 17.5 million acres.
