Canada wildfire smoke is creating ‘unhealthy’ air quality in the northern US
Smoke from Canadian wildfires is back and is spreading over part of the northern United States, and it could spread farther throughout the week.
In a replay of last year around the same time, wildfires in Canada have become more numerous over the past week. Smoke from those fires is being carried into the northern United States and will result in hazy skies and, in some cases, poor air quality, AccuWeather meteorologists say.
Last year, large wildfires burned much of central and southern Canada and periodically sent smoke into the northern U.S. The Canadian wildfire season is expected to be near to above the historical average in terms of the number of fires and well above average in terms of the acreage burned. However, the numbers will be much less than those of the record-shattering season of 2023.
“This spring, the fires have been largely confined to British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories but have cumulatively burned more than half a million acres, with a large amount of that occurring over the past week,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said. Lingering cold weather and snow on the ground have limited fire activity in eastern Canada.