The remains of a huge plume of smoke from wildfires in western Canada were draped across the Eastern Seaboard on Tuesday morning. Patches of unhealthy air accompanied it across the Carolinas and into the South, as well as parts of New England, according to AirNow.gov, a tracker maintained by a group of U.S. government agencies.
Air quality alerts remained in effect for parts of 16 states in the east and northwest Minnesota through the day, although air quality was expected to improve over time in most locations.
Smoke’s milky white appearance was easily spotted on weather satellite Tuesday morning, reaching Florida and the Gulf of Mexico.
The worst air quality Tuesday morning was mainly in the South and Southeast. Birmingham, Ala., Chattanooga, Tenn., Atlanta and Charlotte were among places recording unhealthy Code Red conditions.
Tuesday morning’s smoke pollution follows several days of unhealthy air quality from the northern Plains to the Midwest and the South. Although the worst is ending, some smoke could affect the East Coast for another day or so.
Smoke forecast
On Tuesday, locations from Florida to Maine should see at least some smoke suspended in the air, casting a milky haze over the sky. The smoke could make it near the ground — reducing air quality and visibility — in patchy areas at times.
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Zones from New York and New England to Georgia and Alabama are forecast to have a Code Orange pollution Tuesday, signifying unhealthy levels for sensitive groups.
Parts of the Midwest and Ohio Valley will also probably contend with smoke, while a small fresh plume could enter the northern Plains.
Into Wednesday, a compact low-pressure zone traversing the international border may continue to pump newer smoke into the northern Plains and eventually toward the Great Lakes. Although comparatively minor in scope, it could cause scattered areas of unhealthy air quality.
There is also still an enormous reservoir of smoke farther north in Canada that will need to be watched in the days ahead.
End of carouselRecap of this smoke outburst
The ongoing outbreak of wildfire smoke first entered the Lower 48 on Friday. Smoke was driven deep into the South by a powerful low-pressure area near and north of the Great Lakes as well as the steering currents of the jet stream.
Some of this outbreak’s high daily average air quality index values — all in the unhealthy Code Red zone — include:
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- 172 at Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge in northwest North Dakota, on July 14.
- 167 in Pierre, S.D., on July 15.
- 167 in Havre, Mont., on July 16. A band of unhealthy air extended to near Chicago, where daily AQI values reached 152 in the southwest suburb of Joliet.
- 155 in Cleveland on July 17.
Were it not for the smoke, the weather in this region — sourced from the cool winds of Canada — would have been magnificent for mid-July.
Beyond the next few days
The next low-pressure area that will send at least some smoke into the northern Plains and Great Lakes over the next couple of days may slow down and intensify around the Great Lakes later this week and into the weekend. It could drive yet another significant smoke plume into the Lower 48, particularly across the Plains and Midwest.
As with the current outbreak, any upcoming pushes of smoke would, at least for now, come from Canada’s west. Smoke from western Canada tends to not be quite as thick and close to the ground in the eastern U.S. compared to plumes from eastern Canada.
In eastern Canada, the largest fires in Quebec are presently east of James Bay on the southern end of Hudson Bay, and winds are pushing their smoke to the north and northeast, away from the United States. Blazes that were pumping out large amounts of smoke just to the south in June, and delivering them to the eastern U.S., have been subdued significantly by a wetter pattern in recent weeks.
With about two months to go in Canada’s typical fire season, it remains doubtful that most parts of the northern and eastern U.S. have seen the last of wildfire smoke — from either the west or the east.
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