Latest news with #SouthwestOhioAirQualityAgency
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Canadian wildfires sending smoke into parts of Midwest, including Ohio
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — As wildfires rage in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the Midwest is starting to see the impacts of the blaze nearly a thousand miles away. The fires started last month and have burned millions of acres of land across Canada, and with the current weather pattern, that smoke made its way into the Miami Valley over the weekend. Air Quality Alert issued for June 3 Meteorologists say the heat from the wildfires is so extreme that it can lift the smoke high into the air. 'It lifts it very high into the air, which is then picked up by upper-level winds and pushed downstream, which gets to us,' said John Franks, NWS Wilmington meteorologist. Dayton's air quality has not seen a significant uptick in numbers, since there's a minimal amount of low level smoke. Instead, the smoke got picked up by the jet stream, keeping it higher in the air. 'Certainly the lower to the ground where we're actually out and about and breathing, it's going to be more impactful,' said Joy Landry, Southwest Ohio Air Quality Agency communications specialist. 'If we're lucky, it stays kind of higher up there.' Storm Team 2 forecast: Hazy sunshine, due to Canadian wildfire smoke An air quality alert has been issued for Tuesday in the Miami Valley, but with rain on the way in the middle of the week, the hazy skies will come to an end. 'The rain's just literally going to wash away those particles just the same as if you were throwing charcoal on your driveway and you hose it down. It's kind of that similar basic effect of just washing that away,' said Landry. Wildfire season is just beginning in the United States and Canada, meaning the Miami Valley could see additional hazy skies later this summer and fall. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Why are the skies hazy? Wildfire smoke from Canada moves into Greater Cincinnati
Smoke from raging wildfires in Canada is worsening air quality in some U.S. states. While not on the same scale as the spring and summer of 2023, when over 800 Canadian wildfires burned more than 40 million acres and blanketed large swaths of the Midwest and East Coast with a gray haze, the current outbreak of approximately 150 blazes will have an extended impact across the border as the wind blows southeast. But will Greater Cincinnati be affected? Here's what we know. According to USA TODAY, parts of the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and other states experienced levels of smoke particulates in the air deemed moderate to unhealthy on the morning of May 31. The ongoing smoke is due to blazes in Canada, including the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where authorities said a combination of rising temperatures, winds and low humidity has spread active fires to thousands of acres. At least 17,000 people have been forced to evacuate as of May 31, the national news site writes. Smoke has already been detected drifting through Montana, North Dakota and northern Minnesota, where air quality alerts have been issued. The smoke is expected to head southeast, where cloud cover would minimize its impact. The Southwest Ohio Air Quality Agency has not issued an alert for Greater Cincinnati. Cincinnati's AQI measured 61 as of Monday, June 2, meaning the area has ozone and PM2.5, or fine particulate matter, levels in the yellow, or moderate, zone. According to Columbia University, the EPA created the air quality index, or AQI, "to monitor and report on air quality each day and let people know about its possible health impacts." Over 1,000 locations in the United States monitor and record the air in a color-coded index for four significant pollutants: ground-level ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide. Here's a breakdown of what each level means. Green (0-50) is good. Yellow (51-100) is moderate. Orange (101-150) is unhealthy for sensitive groups. Red (151-200) is unhealthy. Purple (201-300) is very unhealthy. Maroon (300+) is hazardous. See where the wildfires are still burning in Canada using the NASA-FIRMS wildfire map. This map tracks the latest wildfires, red flag warnings, and smoke from wildfires. You can look at just Ohio or zoom out to look at the country. Are you looking for air quality index (AQI) updates? We have a map for that, too. Wildfire smoke map: Track fires and red flag warnings across the US and Ohio The EPA interactive map for air quality shows the Cincinnati region in the yellow or moderate category on Monday, June 2. While this air quality is still regarded as "acceptable," some people may experience health impacts, especially those sensitive to air pollution. Smoke will also have a subtle impact on surface temperatures on June 2, with highs a couple of degrees below normal. However, temperatures will still climb into the mid-70s. High concentrations of smoke will persist across the area on Tuesday, June 3. There will likely be some obstruction from the smoke and "milky-white appearance in the sky" throughout the day, per the National Weather Service in Wilmington. Although it may be difficult to predict precisely when the haze will lift because air pollution is weather-dependent, showers and thunderstorms are expected to return by mid-week, which may aid in clearing the air. Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY; Jorge L. Ortiz and Chad Murphy, The Akron Beacon Journal. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Is Ohio air affected by Canadian wildfires? Track latest smoke data
