- Smoke from fires on the West Coast and in Canada has traveled into the atmosphere and drifted east.
- The smoke has reached the East Coast and affected the Air Quality Index in a number of states.
- It is also brining places prettier sunsets and hazy skies, a meteorologist said.
Smoke from
The smoke, traveling high up into the atmosphere from several fires, has drifted into a number of states, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, parts of Indiana, and Pennsylvania, as well as New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, according to graphics shared by the National Weather Service on Twitter.
In parts of New York, Idaho, Montana, Ohio, and elsewhere, Air Quality Index readings have been recorded at unhealthy levels this week thanks to the wildfires, including
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-NationalWeather Service (@NWS) July 20, 2021
But along with air-quality issues, the smoke will also bring "hazy skies & spectacular sunsets for many," the NWS said.
"Sunsets look prettier, redder, more colorful," Bob Oravec, an NWS meteorologist at the Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, told Reuters.
Among the wildfires burning on the West Coast is the Bootleg Fire, which has scorched nearly 400,000 acres and is only 30% contained by firefighters. The massive blaze has produced its own weather patterns and can be seen from space.