The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has declared a statewide Code Red Air Quality Action Day for Thursday, July 16, as wildfire smoke from Canada and Minnesota moves across the state.
The smoke will enter Pennsylvania’s northernmost counties Wednesday afternoon and push into southern counties through Thursday, creating Code Red concentrations of fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5.
According to the National Weather Service forecast for the Lehigh Valley region as of Wednesday afternoon:
“The smoke appears likely to persist in the area through Thursday night, and potentially lingering through Friday and Saturday as well. The smoke is anticipated to result in visibility restrictions and potential for poor air quality, but exactly to what degree this may be is uncertain.
“This smoke event is not currently anticipated to be as severe as the June 2023 event, but this will be difficult to predict ahead of time.”
All residents should consider limiting outdoor activities during the Code Red alert, the DEP said.
Sensitive groups, including children, elderly residents and those with respiratory illnesses, should avoid long or intense outdoor activities and consider moving activities indoors.
The department is asking residents and businesses to voluntarily help reduce fine particulate matter air pollution by avoiding gas-powered lawn and garden equipment, reducing or eliminating fireplace and wood stove use, and avoiding the open burning of leaves, trash and other materials.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index uses standardized color codes for forecasting and reporting daily air quality. Green signifies good air quality, yellow means moderate air quality, orange represents unhealthy pollution levels for sensitive groups of people, and red warns of unhealthy pollution levels for all.
An Air Quality Alert is declared when the AQI is forecasted to be Code Orange or higher.
More information about air quality is available at the DEP’s Air Quality Partnership Home Page and EPA’s AirNow website.
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