NEW YORK CITY – Canadian wildfire smoke is sticking around for Friday in New York City, with health officials urging New Yorkers to limit strenuous and prolonged outdoor activities and to stick to air-conditioned spaces as much as possible.
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On Thursday, state officials distributed tens of thousands of face masks designed to filter out 95% of tiny airborne particles, including dust and smog, at the city’s Penn Station and Grand Central transit hubs and other major locations.
Local perspective:
This map from AirNow.gov shows the current air quality in the New York City area. Click here if you’re having trouble viewing the embedded map.
To view the full map, click here
To view a map of smoke coverage, click here.
Big picture view:
Take a look at the map below to see where wildfire smoke is heaviest and air quality conditions are at their worst.
By the numbers:
The numbers show how clean or polluted the air is and stand as a guideline for outdoor activities that day, especially for sensitive groups.
0-50: Good, with little to no risk of pollution.51-100: Moderate and really is not a risk to anyone unless they’re unusually sensitive to poor air quality. The national weather service will often still issue an air quality alert when we’re in this range.101-150: This is a risk for sensitive groups and people with asthma.151-200: A risk for everyone and people who are sensitive are at risk for more severe complications.201-300: Very unhealthy and a risk for everyone.301+: Emergency conditions. New York City air quality index
Dig deeper:
For today’s air quality index forecast for New York state, click HERE.
To check the air quality in your area, click HERE.
2023: Canadian wildfire smoke pours into Northeast
In June 2023, winds blew smoke from unchecked Canadian wildfires into the region, which led the Department of Environmental Conservation to issue an Air Quality Health Advisory for all five boroughs.
A view of the hazy city during bad air quality as smoke of Canadian wildfires brought in by wind. (Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
According to IQAir.com, New York City had the world’s worst air quality of any major city in the world back on June 7, with an AQI rating over 350, more than twice as high as Dubai.
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