It looks almost apocalyptic in Boston. The sun is a dim, ghostly orange ball through the haze, and the air is heavy with a smell of campfire.
An extensive plume of thick wildfire smoke has drifted directly into New England, turning skies a milky, yellow-brown hue and triggering air quality alerts. The source of this dramatic sky is a cluster of aggressive wildfires burning in Ontario, Canada, and northern Minnesota.
The atmosphere acted like a massive funnel. High-altitude steering winds, courtesy of a perfectly aligned jet stream, scooped up the heavy smoke and pointed it straight at the Northeast.
Because of this, air quality alerts are active for a massive slice of the eastern U.S., stretching from New York and Philadelphia down to D.C., and westward back to the Great Lakes. Those with asthma, COPD or other respiratory sensitivities, should limit time outdoors. Wildfires are now a significant source of toxic smoke exposure in the U.S.
Just how thick is this smoke?
- Midwest: In parts of Northern Wisconsin, morning webcams showed harbor boats completely lost in a dense, fog-like shroud of surface smoke.
- New Hampshire: In places like Holderness, the haze was so thick Wednesday morning that the sun was barely a faint glow in the sky. On Mt. Washington, one meteorologist posted that it looked like Mars outside the mountaintop weather observatory.
- Boston: The air quality index spiked to around 130 on Wednesday morning, landing firmly in the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” category.
Timeline
While the smoke is a nuisance for breathing, it is going to make for some incredibly vivid, fiery sunrises and sunsets as the tiny particles scatter the blue light and amplify deep reds and oranges. Here is what to expect over the next 48 hours:
Wednesday night
The thickest smoke remains focused across central and southern New England — especially along and south of the Mass Pike, down through Connecticut and the South Coast. Far northern Maine is the only spot escaping the worst of it. The smoke will thin out slightly overnight.
Thursday (the next wave)
After a beautiful sunrise, a second wave of thick smoke is projected to push back into New England Thursday afternoon.
A deep corridor of pinks and purples (representing very high smoke concentrations) spreading across central and southern New England is likely with ground-level smoke increasing again, meaning Thursday afternoon and evening could bring another round of thick smoke and that distinct smoky smell at the surface.
Capture the view safely
We want to see what the sky looks like in your neighborhood! If you capture a dramatic, orange-tinted sunset or a hazy landscape, send it to us using the Send To Us tab in the bottom right corner of the free 1DegreeOutside app.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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