The impact of the Canadian wildfires continues to be felt across the Hudson Valley, and likely will be with us for the next 1 to 2 days at least. These images are from the ‘Purple Air’ website showing the air quality over the past hour. On a normal day, the air quality typically fluctuates from between 0 – 50 (good) to 51 – 100 (moderate). You can see the large area from the Great Lakes down through NY state and New England, all in the orange, red and purple categories… indicating an Air Quality Index of 101 to 300+. This is typically unhealthy air and potentially hazardous to not just people with pre-existing respiratory illnesses, but to the general public… especially the longer you’re exposed to the air.
Some of the readings in the Great Lakes are approaching 1000, and the recommendation in those areas is to stay indoors. We don’t expect the air quality to get to those levels here in the Hudson Valley… but we could see readings approaching and possibly exceeding the “Hazardous” levels here locally. So it’s a good idea to keep an eye on the readings in your area. You should be able to get a decent idea of the air quality using your vision… as the thicker the smoke, the darker and hazier the sky will become. Last June we had wildfire smoke so severe, it turned the skies a brownish-orange color for many parts of the region. We saw a hint of that on Wednesday, and we’ll have to see how dense the smoke is on Thursday… but similar conditions are possible.
We’ll provide updates along the way… but if you’re sensitive to the air quality, please be careful and alert to the conditions over the next day or two.
Air Quality Map: https://map.purpleair.com/