Wildfire smoke from Canada and northeast Minnesota will continue to sweep over parts of the Midwest and East this weekend leading to dangerous air quality. Air quality alerts have been issued for parts of the Midwest, as well as parts of Upstate New York. These conditions are tracked and forecasted using visual tools, including detailed maps.
Visualising Air Quality and Smoke Plumes
The dots are air quality forecasts for Sunday, July 19, colored by severity. This provides a clear picture of current and impending air quality conditions. A forecast of smoke near the surface for the timeframe highlighted from the HRRR model also offers crucial insights. Areas in orange, red and purple contours may have significant wildfire smoke near the ground that could be unhealthy.
Multiple Rounds of Smoke Expected
There is some short-term good news, as showers and thunderstorms that swept through the Ohio Valley and Northeast on Saturday should help to temporarily clean the air of smoke particles in some areas. However, another round of smoke will dive southward into the western Great Lakes on Sunday. This plume will then sweep into the Ohio Valley and could impact at least parts of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. Unfortunately, model forecasts suggest a third round of smoke could nosedive southward through the upper Midwest beginning Tuesday. This smoke could sweep into the Northeast around Wednesday, but could also nose-dive into parts of the South Wednesday and Thursday.
Historic Air Quality Impacts
This latest smoke event began Wednesday from the northern Great Lakes into the Northeast, including Boston, New York City and Toronto. It then spread Thursday and lingered into Friday over much of the Great Lakes and mid-Atlantic. Cities such as Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. have reported code purple "very unhealthy" air quality Friday, according to the EPA’s air quality index. Late Thursday morning, Detroit, Minneapolis and Chicago were the three most polluted major cities in the world, according to calculations from IQAir. However, the smoke has thinned and air quality improved considerably Friday in parts of the upper Midwest, including the Twin Cities.
Wildfire smoke is hazardous to breathe for several reasons:
- It contains microscopic "particulate matter" much smaller than the width of a human hair that can lodge deep into the lungs and then enter your bloodstream.
- It can lead to short-term effects, such as coughing, shortness of breath, a scratchy throat, runny nose and burning eyes.
- Prolonged exposure to dense smoke can increase the risk of chronic lung issues and increase inflammation that could lead to heart attacks and strokes.
If you’re in these affected areas in the Midwest and Northeast, check your air quality forecast before heading outside. Wildfire smoke tracker maps are among the tools available to monitor these evolving conditions.