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Hazy skies spread nationwide as Northwest wildfire smoke pushes East
FOX Weather • • nation
Key Points:
- Wildfire smoke from numerous large fires in Oregon and Washington is spreading eastward, affecting air quality and creating hazy skies across the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and parts of the Southeast due to jet stream movement.
- Over 30 active fires in the Pacific Northwest and Northern Great Basin have burned nearly one million acres, with Oregon bearing the majority of the damage.
- Air quality is severely impacted in regions like Boise, Idaho, where conditions remain very unhealthy, while smoke near the surface is also affecting Montana and the Dakotas.
- Although smoke will continue to travel east, it is expected to remain higher in the atmosphere, limiting surface-level air quality issues compared to previous Canadian wildfire events.
- Elevated smoke will cause hazy skies and more vivid sunrises and sunsets across a wide area, including the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, but significant air quality degradation is not anticipated outside the Northwest.
