Wildfire Smoke And Haze To Be Constant Battle For Weeks (Video Included)

Location of wildfires burning in North America as of last
Friday. With this many fires burning in so many areas,
smoke and haze will be a frequent problem here in 
Vermont and in much of the rest of the nation well into fall.

 We here in Vermont got a break from smoky and hazy conditions from wildfire smoke in the past few days, but it will be back.  

It's a gorgeous morning today, for instance. I awoke to deep blue skies after a cool, comfortable night for sleeping.

As the sun rose today, the Adirondacks glowed green and clearly visible in the clean air. Lake Champlain has a pristine, indigo look to it, reflecting the deep blue sky overhead. 

Air flow since last Friday and Saturday mostly threaded the needle between patches of wildfire smoke in the atmosphere. Most of the air came down from northern Quebec, where there are no major fires.

We've been lucky the past few days.  It's only a matter of time, however, until the haze and smoke comes back.  In fact, I expect it to be somewhat hazier later today and tomorrow, but at least this next round won't be nearly as noticeable as some recent smoke attacks we've  had this summer. 

Any time the air comes from the southwest, west or northwest, you'll probably see wildfire haze or smoke in the air here in Vermont.  

The map on this page shows where firefighters were burning as of last Friday. As you can see,  the only ways we're nearly guaranteed to avoid wildfire smoke is if the air comes straight from the north or the east or southeast.

Unfortunately, most of the time our air comes in from the west. 

A smoky day near Fairfield, Vermont on July 20. We've
had clean air the past few days in Vermont, but it's inevitable
that we will have additional hazy or even smoky days
as many wildfires continue burning in the U.S. west
and in Canada.

It's pretty much a nationwide problem. Smoke from Canadian wildfires got so bad in places like Minnesota and the Dakotas that visibility was down to a mile or two. 

There have been air quality alerts in Minnesota for several days in a row now. South Dakota probably had its worst air pollution on record a few days ago.

If the air quality index is at or above 301, everybody's health is endangered or at least affected, no matter how vigorous they might be.  

At one point in Watertown South Dakota, the air quality index was 418.

Sometimes, the smoke goes high overhead, so the sky looks hazy and the sun looks weird, but the air is OK to breathe. Other times, the smoke is brought to the ground, and the air gets funky to say the least.

Whether we get to breathe the wildfire gunk or watch it pass high overhead depends upon various weather conditions that are hard to predict much more than a couple days in advance. 

So far this summer, Vermont has had two air quality alerts for bad air due to wildfire smoke. We haven't gotten nearly as bad as the northern Plains and upper Midwest. At its worst, our air quality ranged between 150 and 200, which can be hazardous for sensitive groups.  

Wildfire smoke, almost without a doubt, will be hazard not only this summer and fall, but in most seasons heading into the foreseeable future.  That's true here in Vermont and for most of the rest of the nation.

Although these smoke attacks won't have any short term health effects in healthy people, and perhaps no long term affects, it still isn't for you.  I consider especially smoky days akin to smoking a few cigarettes. It might not kill you, at least not immediately, but it's still not a great idea to suck on a ciggie. 

Here's a video I took of the smoky conditions in Vermont about a week ago.  On mobile devices, you'll need to click on this hyperlink to see the video. Otherwise, here it is: Click on the arrow, then the YouTube video to view.