Wildfire smoke blew down from Canada over Boston on Tuesday, turning skies yellow and brown as it blocked the sun and tempered the rising heat through the day – and there’s more on the way Wednesday.
“We are seeing pretty extensive wildfire smoke pretty high up today, coming from wildfires burning in Canada, out towards western Ontario,” National Weather Service meteorologist Candace Hrencecin said Tuesday. “It’s just basically coming through with how the flow is impacting the region.”
National Weather Service forecasters cancelled the heat advisory for the Boston area and much of the region through Wednesday – keeping it in place for parts of southeastern Massachusetts, northern Connecticut and most of Rhode Island – as the smoke coverage limited temperatures.
The high temperature reached 90 degrees in Boston on Tuesday, Hrencecin said, down from heat indices forecasts originally said could reach over 100 degrees.
“In any breaks between, like some thinning smoke, temperatures have been able to climb up a little bit more,” said Hrencecin. “But they haven’t been able to get really to the magnitude we were expecting.”
Over 800 wildfires were burning in Canada on Tuesday, according to the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System, with 97 listed “out of control” and a large grouping around southwestern Ontario leading down to the Minnesota border.
NWS maps of the air movement showed the wildfire smoke reaching all the way down to New York City on Tuesday.
Despite the smoke, the U.S. Air Quality Index rated air quality around Boston “moderate” on Tuesday, with sensors reporting “stable conditions” as of the late afternoon around downtown. The index recommended “unusually sensitive people consider reducing outdoor activity” and “go inside to cleaner air if you have symptoms.”
However, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services declared a smoke advisory in the state through Wednesday evening, warning the smoke pollution is expected to “reach levels that could cause a hazy appearance in the sky, odors and respiratory health effects for unusually sensitive individuals.”
“NHDES officials advise anyone who is unusually sensitive to air pollution to take precautions and protect their health by limiting prolonged or heavy exertion, especially outdoors,” the department said, noting symptoms include “chest pain, palpitations, shortness of breath and difficulty breathing” and may effect those with asthma and other existing lung diseases. “Even healthy individuals may experience mild health effects and should consider limiting strenuous or prolonged activities.”
Conditions are expected to improve Thursday, the department stated, but there is potential for some high particle pollution to persist for the rest of the week.
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“Another plume of wildfire smoke is likely to shift southward into the region in larger concentrations (Wednesday)” NWS stated. The current is likely to again limit temperatures and bring “hazy skies and a hint of a smoky smell in the air.”
NWS also issued an elevated fire weather weather concern for Massachusetts on Tuesday, warning “hot temperatures combined with gusty southwesterly winds 20-35 mph” combined with lack of significant rainfall, fuel conditions and recent fire activity present a risk of fires. Residents are urged to “use caution when handling and disposing of ignition sources such as matches or cigarettes.”
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