Canadian Wildfires and Air Quality

[Jar11591]

We have an air quality alert here in upstate NY due to the Canadian wildfires. The last several days there has been a visible haze, but today it’s worse than ever. The air smells like a campfire and I can literally see smoke or haze blowing in the breeze. This is from just now:

 

The advisory says strenuous outdoor activity should be avoided…so I’m going out to landscape and mow lawns lol…but the bills won’t pay themselves. I’m an asthmatic and I was coughing and wheezing just from loading the truck, so we’ll see how long I last. Albuterol has never let me down!
 

How’s the air where y’all are? Any other asthmatics, and how has it been affecting you? And if you’re in the path of the actual fires, stay safe!

[gim]

17 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

How’s the air where y’all are?

We've had that stuff in the air here for a month already.  Its mostly coming from western Canada, so it reaches us before it reaches you.

 

We're plunging right back into our annual summer drought now too, for the third straight year.  A ridge of high pressure is parked over Canada (same area producing wildfires) and it is blocking low pressure systems from coming in.  After one of the wettest winters on record here, the faucet has shut off in May/June and smoke has filled the air.  It kind of feels like the apocalypse.  Its probably gonna get worse before it gets better.

[Darth-Baiter]

That’s awful. Be careful.  My mild childhood asthma became something different after our wildfires. 
 

‘’I can’t even smell smoke in a city environment without some thinking wildfire.  
 

someone photoshopped Godzilla into the smoky San Francisco cityscape and it kinda was an awesome pic. 

[Choporoz]

Pretty thick haze in Northern VA this morning.  You can feel it in your nose and lungs without the strenuous activity.

[Darth-Baiter]

i believe this was daytime.

 

found the pic.

[casts_by_fly]

It was bad here yesterday.  I'm about 40 miles due west of NYC which by yesterday evening had the worst air quality of any city in the world at that moment.  the air was thick.  I was out fishing for the evening and it was as if there was a house on fire just below the dam.  Of course that was the air quality for the entire region. 

 

Its cleared a little today.  The air is still thick and it smells like a campfire outside but some of the haze has settled down.

 

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

We've had that stuff in the air here for a month already.  Its mostly coming from western Canada, so it reaches us before it reaches you.

 

We're plunging right back into our annual summer drought now too, for the third straight year.  A ridge of high pressure is parked over Canada (same area producing wildfires) and it is blocking low pressure systems from coming in.  After one of the wettest winters on record here, the faucet has shut off in May/June and smoke has filled the air.  It kind of feels like the apocalypse.  Its probably gonna get worse before it gets better.

 

These are different ones yet.  These fires are in Quebec and Nova Scotia but the way the jet stream is flowing the air is eddying back down across toronto and into NY.  We should see some relief this weekend as the wind forecast from the north is dissipating and the wind from the south west (our primary wind) is picking up.  It should push it all out to sea.  We're also due some rain over the next 7 days and that will help us too if we actually get it.  I think we've had a half inch of rain the past 45 days now.  Its like last summer and we're only at the start of June.

[MassBass]

Thick smoky haze in Boston yesterday. I believe this is a sign of the end of days

[casts_by_fly]

well I maybe spoke too soon.  Its gotten super hazy and smoky here.  There are no clouds in the sky and yet you can look at the sun through the smoke and not squint.  Very orange sunset colored skies here at 11 AM.  

 

edit 12 AM- just went outside to plug the boat in and its similar to standing 20' downwind of a burnpile fire where you've been burning lots of paper.  I was going to do a few things outside today between meetings, but its pretty rough and getting worse.

[ike8120]

Not any good on the Jersey coast

 

[TOXIC]

We experienced it first when we were on St Clair and it’s pretty bad here in Virginia now.  We have been lucky because my house is in the forest and we have not had to turn on our AC yet this year even with the 80 degree temps.  With the heat and air quality alerts, we closed up the house today and switched over to AC. 

[Kirtley Howe]

4 hours ago, Jar11591 said:

We have an air quality alert here in upstate NY due to the Canadian wildfires. The last several days there has been a visible haze, but today it’s worse than ever. The air smells like a campfire and I can literally see smoke or haze blowing in the breeze. This is from just now:

 

The advisory says strenuous outdoor activity should be avoided…so I’m going out to landscape and mow lawns lol…but the bills won’t pay themselves. I’m an asthmatic and I was coughing and wheezing just from loading the truck, so we’ll see how long I last. Albuterol has never let me down!
 

How’s the air where y’all are? Any other asthmatics, and how has it been affecting you? And if you’re in the path of the actual fires, stay safe!

Here in Tioga County NY, the air was more smokey in appearance yesterday than today, but the overall air quality is worse today. Yesterday it just smelled like wood burning, but today the air is much more acrid. I am staying indoors today, as I can barely breath out there. I have COPD and am missing 1/3 of my right lung due to lung cancer surgery....

[hokiehunter373]

Northern MD here and it's pretty bad today.  Not NY levels but an intense campfire smell along with the code red air quality alert.  I've got "sports induced" asthma but luckily have spent verrry little time outside so far today

[Kirtley Howe]

28 minutes ago, Kirtley Howe said:

Here in Tioga County NY, the air was more smokey in appearance yesterday than today, but the overall air quality is worse today. Yesterday it just smelled like wood burning, but today the air is much more acrid. I am staying indoors today, as I can barely breath out there. I have COPD and am missing 1/3 of my right lung due to lung cancer surgery....

Figured out why it LOOKS less smokey today. Lots of wind is blowing so the smoke is more dispersed, but it really is acrid and hard to breath out there.

 

[Jar11591]

Good part about working for myself is that when I want to stop working, I stop. I did just that around 11:30. Couldn’t go 5 minutes without coughing. Supposed to clear up later in the week. Looks eerie and almost apocalyptic out there. 

[ike8120]

Got real bad on the Jersey shore, looks like dense fog.

 

[GaryH]

Northern Pa.  Smells like a campfire and smoke in the air. 

[gim]

6 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

I think we've had a half inch of rain the past 45 days now.  Its like last summer and we're only at the start of June.

These rain-less summers are getting pretty old, I'll tell you.

 

May/June/July are traditionally our wettest three months of the entire year.  When we don't even the average amount of rain during that time period, it really sets up backwards because it only gets drier later in the summer and into fall.  Then we go into winter and get a mountain of snow that removes drought by spring, and then the moisture stops again.  #rinseandrepeat

[casts_by_fly]

14 minutes ago, gimruis said:

These rain-less summers are getting pretty old, I'll tell you.

 

May/June/July are traditionally our wettest three months of the entire year.  When we don't even the average amount of rain during that time period, it really sets up backwards because it only gets drier later in the summer and into fall.  Then we go into winter and get a mountain of snow that removes drought by spring, and then the moisture stops again.  #rinseandrepeat

 

agreed.  Last year we had about an inch over 3 months (J/J/A).  By the end of that time, the big lake around here was down 25' because it has to maintain a minimum flow for the river below.  Even the natural lakes were down 2' which is rare.  Usually they just stop flowing out.  That happened and then they started evaporating.  It really screws with things.

 

We're forecast about an inch of rain over the next week over 4 days.  If we actually get it, that will be a good soaker and help a bunch, but we need that once a week or so.

[Kirtley Howe]

2 hours ago, Jar11591 said:

Good part about working for myself is that when I want to stop working, I stop. I did just that around 11:30. Couldn’t go 5 minutes without coughing. Supposed to clear up later in the week. Looks eerie and almost apocalyptic out there. 

I am reminded of the movie The MIst.

Just now, Kirtley Howe said:

I am reminded of the movie The MIst.

Sorry...that is The Mist. Clumsy fingers.....

[12poundbass]

It’s hazy here in Michigan but not like the east coast. It does make for some really nice red/orange sunrises.

 

As far as rain…zip, zero, zilch. It’s been a month. They said the other day, the first three months of the year were the wettest on record, and the past three months have been the driest on record. 

[slonezp]

This has been going on for months. You just have new wildfires. Chicago was seeing the effects from fires in Alberta. We are now seeing the latest ones. The latest ones are in Ontario or Quebec

[Jar11591]

10 hours ago, slonezp said:

his has been going on for months.

They’ve been postponing MLB games due to air quality for months? I must have missed that. The last couple days are the first time I’ve seen games postponed due to air quality this season. 

[slonezp]

13 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

They’ve been postponing MLB games due to air quality for months? I must have missed that. The last couple days are the first time I’ve seen games postponed due to air quality this season. 

Fires have been burning for months 

[hokiehunter373]

19 hours ago, hokiehunter373 said:

Northern MD here and it's pretty bad today.  Not NY levels but an intense campfire smell along with the code red air quality alert.  I've got "sports induced" asthma but luckily have spent verrry little time outside so far today

Waaaay worse this morning.  AQI here is 348.  Not the dark orange apocalyptical looking stuff that was in NY but low visibility and a couple minutes out in it bothered my throat.  Need this front to come through tomorrow big time, even if it doesn't bring rain, as has been the case for 3 weeks now

[Glenn]

In 2018 and again in 2020, my neck of the woods got hit by the same thing.  Lung-choking smoke for months.  The smoke came from both Canada and California wildfires.

 

In August 2020, the AQI hit 500 - the highest they can measure.  It was above that, but they don't know by how much.

 

While it's bad for you guys, wait until it pegs the 500 mark.  Then you'll wish you had what you have now.