You may notice a bit of a haze in the air this week. In part, it’s coming from central Canadian wildfire smoke, and while impacts are expected to peak on Wednesday, it's not leading to much health concern in the tri-state.
Ground-level ozone/pollution, however, is a different story. That's going to take our Air Quality Index above 100, which is into the “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” category.
On hot and sunny days, especially in urban areas, heat and sunlight react chemically with pollutants in the air to form ground-level ozone, which can be very irritating to people with respiratory problems.
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SIGN UP For most of us, ground-level ozone won’t pose a major issue other than creating a hazy horizon. And the wildfire smoke shouldn't impact us much either.
We’re keeping a close eye on it, but unless you are unusually sensitive to fine airborne particles, it won’t have a big impact on you. At most, you’ll see some colorful sunrises followed by a little haziness in our otherwise blue skies over the next few days. That said, the impacts peak on Wednesday.
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Impacts will be more substantial for those in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and the upper peninsula of Michigan. The wildfire smoke in that region is heavy and close to the surface.
Air quality Wednesday is expected to be in the “unhealthy” category for those areas, even tipping to “very unhealthy” at times. Under these conditions, health effects from exposure to the smoke become increasingly likely.
As this smoke travels from the Midwest to the Northeast, it disperses considerably, greatly reducing the concentration of the smoke that blankets the tri-state. Much of the smoke will stay aloft, too, further reducing the intensity and impact along the East Coast. Expect a "moderate" level of concern on the pollution scale.
Despite the slight reduction in air quality, it will have little to no impact on health. After Wednesday, we gradually see improvements throughout the rest of the week. But even at the “peak” we don’t anticipate wildfire smoke to have a health impact in the tri-state area.
Weather this week is sunny, hot, and beautiful, so take full advantage of the weather and spend some time outside. Enjoy a meal al fresco or take in the sea breeze on the beach. Air quality won’t get in your way.
