Smoke from wildfires raging in Ontario and the Northwest Territories were responsible for tinting the sun orange and the skies around Montreal a dull yellow early Tuesday.
While the phenomenon coincided with a weather system in the Montreal area that could bring severe thunderstorms, hail and perhaps even a tornado over the course of the day, there was, in this case, nothing more to the presence of the eerie effect than an unfortunate piece of timing.
“The orange sun occurs when there are a lot of small particles between you and the sun. In this case, fine smoke particles from forest fires in northwestern Quebec and eastern Ontario have been brought by high altitude winds over us. Combined with the clouds from approaching storms, it gives the clouds this unusual yellowish tint,” explained Frédéric Fabry, associate professor at McGill University’s Bieler School of Environment & Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, in an email to the Montreal Gazette.
The sun looms over La Grande Roue de Montréal as an orangish-haze blankets Montreal on July 14, 2026. Evan Buhler / Montreal Gazette
Environment Canada meteorologist Simon Legault noted that wildfires in the Northwest Territories might also be providing some local colour to local skies, but doing so at such altitude local air quality was not affected.
“(The smoke) stays aloft so, mixed with the clouds there are some particles that alter the light so that we see a light yellowish colour,” he said. “It’s not close to the ground so it doesn’t affect the air quality right now…air quality (in the Montreal area) is between good and fair and in most of Quebec.”
Legault added however that air quality could be affected should the smoke start to drift over the areas at a lower altitude in the days to come.