World Cup final: All to know about Canadian wildfire smoke, NY weather

Key Points:

• Smoke from over 950 Canadian wildfires has caused poor air quality and visible haze across New York and New Jersey ahead of the Spain vs Argentina World Cup final in East Rutherford, scheduled for Sunday at 3pm local time.
• Weather disruptions included thunderstorms with heavy rain and potential damaging winds on Saturday, leading to suspension of Spain's last outdoor training session, while Argentina trained outdoors without issue.
• Meteorologists predict the storm front will clear most of the smoke from the northeastern US by game time, improving air quality from unhealthy to moderate levels, posing little health risk to the general public.
• Tournament organizers and local authorities are closely monitoring conditions, with officials confident that weather and smoke will not significantly impact the final, which is expected to have comfortable temperatures around 27°C (80°F) and light breezes.
• The wildfires are exacerbated by climate change, causing longer and faster-burning fires, but the thickest smoke is forecast to remain concentrated away from the World Cup venue, mainly over the Midwest and Great Lakes regions.