U.S. Air Quality: Wildfire Smoke Lingers in Midwest and Northeast – The New York Times

U.S. and Canada Wildfires
Advertisement
Supported by
Smoke driven by the wildfires in Canada lingered over the Northeast and Midwest on Friday. Conditions were expected to improve over the Fourth of July weekend.
By Christopher Maag and Derrick Bryson Taylor
Air quality remained poor in the Northeast on Friday, but conditions were improving across much of the Midwest as rain and winds from the west and south began to disperse wildfire smoke from Canada that had hung over much of the country this week.
Rain and southerly winds were expected to continue across most of the Eastern United States at least through the Fourth of July, clearing the way for fireworks, cookouts and other outdoor activities over the holiday weekend, said David Roth, a forecaster with the federal Weather Prediction Center.
One exception to the general clearing trend may be in Minnesota, where a lack of rainfall means “the smoke will be more persistent there,” Mr. Roth said.
At various times this week, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Columbus, Ohio, all experienced air quality that qualified as “very unhealthy” or “hazardous” according to AirNow.gov, a source for air-quality data run by the Environmental Protection Agency. By Friday afternoon, the skies in all three cities were beginning to clear, with only moderate pollution, according to AirNow.
Conditions were expected to continue to improve across much of the Midwest from Friday night into Saturday as storms roll in, Mr. Roth said.
“That rain will wash everything out of the air,” he said.
In the Northeast on Friday, unhealthy levels of ozone and small particulates in the air were reported from Wilmington, Del., to Albany, N.Y., according to AirNow. The air was likely to clear as wind from the south pushed any lingering wildfire smoke back to Canada, Mr. Roth said.
Source: AirNow · Data is as of 8 a.m. Eastern
We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Advertisement

source