New York Air Quality Drops as Canadian Wildfire Smoke Returns

Air quality is falling across New York and parts of the Midwest and Northeast as more smoke from Canadian wildfires swirls into the US.

(Bloomberg) — Air quality is falling across New York and parts of the Midwest and Northeast as more smoke from Canadian wildfires swirls into the US.

In New York City, air quality was moderate in parts of Brooklyn and Queens Monday morning, while conditions in Manhattan were better, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow.gov. Air quality could deteriorate to become unhealthy for sensitive groups later in the day, according to the US Weather Prediction Center.

Air quality was unhealthy in western New York, including Rochester and the suburbs of Buffalo and Syracuse, as well as in parts of Chicago.

The smoke won’t be as overwhelming as the plume that descended from Quebec in June and turned New York’s skies a murky orange, said Josh Weiss, a forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Center. The smoke could linger in the Northeast into Tuesday.

In addition to the smoke, New York City was blanketed by fog early Monday, the National Weather Service said. Air quality alerts have been posted across states including New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Illinois, along with several Canadian provinces.

Across Canada, 883 fires are currently burning, with 580 raging out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. Since the start of this year, 4,147 fires have burned 10 million hectares (24.7 million acres.)

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