The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Canada wildfire smoke drifting from Midwest to the East Coast
Dense smoke from wildfires burning in Canada continued to migrate eastward on Wednesday, swinging around a lowpressure area now moving offshore on the East Coast. In its wake, a channel of thick surface smoke draped across the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and increasingly over the Mid-Atlantic.
Detroit, Chicago and Minneapolis were among the cities with the worst air quality in the world early Wednesday, according to IQAir. Unhealthy Code Red and Purple conditions stretched from eastern Iowa across Chicago and lower Great Lakes region, then toward the Appalachian Mountains, according to AirNow.
Cities seeing Code Purple air quality, very unhealthy with an increased health risk for the general public, on Wednesday morning included Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Indianapolis and Cedar Rapids in Iowa. Air quality alerts related to wildfire smoke were in effect for parts of 17 states, covering nearly a third of the American population.
The alerts stretch from Iowa and Minnesota in the west to New York, Maryland, Delaware and North Carolina in the east. “Unhealthy air will continue today due to Canadian wildfires,” the National Weather Service in Indianapolis tweeted. “Limit outdoor activity and avoid outdoor physical activities, especially those that are sensitive to smoke.”
This round of Canadian wildfire smoke is perhaps a touch less intense than the one that swept across the Northeast in early June. Code Purple conditions on Tuesday in and around Milwaukee had a similar Air Quality Index (AQI) at 246 compared to New York City at the peak of the last episode on June 7, when Queens reached 254.
Thus far, the daily value near Milwaukee is the highest in the United States from this batch. On June 7, Freemansburg in eastern Pennsylvania reached an AQI of 309 for the peak of that event. Additional Code Purples for a daily average seem likely Wednesday.
The AQI becomes problematic for sensitive groups at Code Orange. By Code Red, an AQI of 151 or above, the air can be unhealthy for everyone. Code Purple begins at an AQI of 201. Code Maroon readings indicating hazardous air quality start at 301.
Primary pollutants from wildfire at distance are of the PM 2.5 variety, or carbon-based fine particulates of 2.5 microns and less in diameter. In Code Red or worse conditions, the best protection is staying indoors with the windows closed and going outside only as necessary while wearing an N95 type mask.
A cold front passing through the Northeast United States during the summer brings at least a short reprieve from heat and humidity. This year, however, it is often a harbinger of smoke. The low-pressure area yanking smoke along for the ride is drifting offshore on the Mid-Atlantic. At the same time, a resurgence of high pressure across Quebec and Ontario will help keep the smoke on its current path.
Smoke was thickest around the lower Great Lakes region early Wednesday, and that patch will continue to drift toward the east and southeast through the day. A zone from near Detroit to Pittsburgh may see the worst of it, with Code Purple likely at times.
Wildfire smoke is also spilling over the Appalachian Mountains, with air quality headed downhill in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Air quality in the Mid-Atlantic is also likely to worsen through Wednesday.
Poor air is poised to remain over much of the same region through Thursday, though it will sink south slowly over the Great Lakes and perhaps diminish somewhat with time. Code Orange conditions are forecast from Georgia to the Mid-Atlantic on Thursday, as well as in spots west of the Appalachian Mountains.
-Tuesday was a widespread Code Red day in much of the Upper Midwest, the Ohio Valley, the Great Lakes and into Ontario. The Milwaukee area reached Code Purple. According to data from the Environmental Protection Agency, many locations saw record high pollution for smoke particulates in data that go back to the 1990s.
More air quality records across the United States will probably be tested or surpassed Wednesday. The zones most at risk for that run from western New York and southern Ontario back through Ohio and into the Midwest.