Wildfire smoke drifting south from fires in Ontario, Canada and Minnesota is triggering Air Quality Alerts across New York, New England and Pennsylvania today and Thursday, with conditions ranging from Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups in much of the region to a Code RED — Unhealthy for Everyone in northeastern and central Pennsylvania.
The Source: Canadian and Minnesota Wildfires Moving South
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection named the culprit directly: wildfire smoke from Ontario, Canada and Minnesota is entering the region from north to south this afternoon and is expected to linger through Friday. The plume is already visible across much of upstate New York and New England Wednesday morning, with AQI values spiking sharply in areas from the Adirondacks to the Berkshires to the Hudson Valley.
New York: Rochester at AQI 180, NYC Through Thursday Night
The New York State DEC has issued Air Quality Health Advisories for virtually the entire state. The most severe reading appears in the Rochester-area bulletin: Monroe, Wayne, Cayuga, Oswego and Jefferson counties face AQI values forecast above 180 — deep in the Unhealthy range, affecting the general population, not just sensitive groups. All of New York City’s five boroughs, Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk), Westchester, Rockland, Orange and Putnam counties are under advisory through midnight Thursday. The NY DEC Air Quality Hotline is 800-535-1345.
The Capital Region, Hudson Valley, Catskills, Adirondacks and central New York (Syracuse, Binghamton, Ithaca, Corning, Elmira, Utica) are all under advisories running through midnight Wednesday or Thursday night.
Pennsylvania: Code RED in Scranton and Central PA
Northeast Pennsylvania — Bradford, Susquehanna, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Pike and Wayne counties, including Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton, Milford and Sayre — faces a Code RED Air Quality Alert from midnight tonight through midnight Thursday. Code RED means air pollution concentrations are unhealthy for the general public, not just sensitive groups, with more serious effects for people with asthma, heart disease and lung conditions.
Central Pennsylvania has a Code RED for Thursday and a Code ORANGE for Friday across a sweeping zone covering Harrisburg, Lancaster, York, Altoona, State College, Johnstown, Clearfield, Williamsport, Scranton, Lewisburg and dozens of smaller communities in the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys.
New England: Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut
The NWS Boston office has relayed Air Quality Alerts for all of Massachusetts, all of Rhode Island and portions of Connecticut. Rhode Island’s alert runs through noon Thursday. Connecticut alerts cover Hartford, Tolland, Windham and the full Fairfield-New Haven-Middlesex-New London corridor. Massachusetts alerts cover Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Lowell, Lawrence, Brockton, Fall River, New Bedford, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.
What to Do
Sensitive groups — children, the elderly, people with asthma, heart disease or lung conditions — should limit all prolonged outdoor activity through Thursday. The general public should reduce strenuous outdoor exercise. Keep windows closed and run air conditioning on recirculate. Track real-time air quality at AirNow.gov and the NY DEC AQI site.
