Wildfires burning out of control in Canada are leaving a trail of smoke across the northern United States and prompting local authorities to issue health warnings for millions of people due to poor air quality.
Blazes raging in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba are creating poor conditions in the Midwest and Northeast, the National Weather Service said on Aug. 4. Officials from Minnesota to Maine have issued air quality alerts, according to the Storm Prediction Center.
The impact from the fires isn’t as dramatic as the wildfires of 2023 that left New York City blanketed in a moonglow orange. But weak winds have left the smoke to linger over the northern United States for days, said Dan Cornish, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Michigan.
"We’re definitely seeing prolonged impact, we’ve had several days of hazy skies," Cornish told USA TODAY, adding the horizon outside the weather service office in Gaylord, Michigan, has been a "milky gray" for days. "Unfortunately, that’s just going to continue to deteriorate air quality across much of this area."
Storm Prediction Center alert maps show blanket air quality warnings for the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, New York, and the New England region.
