Wildfire Smoke, Haze Return To East Coast: What To Know In PA

PENNSYLVANIA — Smoke and haze from Canada’s long-burning wildfires are prompting a new round of air quality alerts along the East Coast, as levels are expected to increase in Pennsylvania.

Communities northeast of Pennsylvania have air quality levels of about 65 early Monday afternoon, according to airnow.gov. This is within the “moderate” risk level for fine particulate matter, which is shown in yellow on the map, and includes AQI ranges between 51 and 100.

Most of the state is forecast to see air quality index levels in the mid-60s throughout Monday, though the haze will move out of the Philadelphia region later in the afternoon.

Tuesday will also see moderate air quality levels throughout most of Pennsylvania, according to airnow.gov.

The smoke and haze aren’t expected to obscure city skylines, as they did in June, but even moderate air quality levels can be unhealthy for those people who are extremely sensitive to these conditions.

Early Monday, the worst air quality in the country was just off the East Coast, according to a visualization of the airnow.gov data by The New York Times. Most coastal areas from Florida to the Northeast had moderate air quality.

The "unhealthy for sensitive groups" AQI levels begin at 101, and residents around the state saw AQI values eclipse these numbers and soar into "very unhealthy" or even "hazardous" categories in late June and early July.

The Canada wildfire season started early this year, and above-average wildfire activity is expected to continue through October in some places. The United States has seen very little wildfire activity this year, although the potential for wildfires through October is above-average in parts of the Pacific Northwest, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and some Mid-Atlantic states.