Smoke from the western wildfires in the United States and Canada is travelling thousands of miles to bring a haze over the Philadelphia region and leave us with poor air quality that could cause some people problems.
It’s being spread into our area by the jet stream, making for especially hazy days on Tuesday and Wednesday.
However, you likely won’t be able to smell the smoke, as it is 10,000 to 20,000 feet up in the atmosphere.
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The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission issued an air quality alert on Tuesday and Wednesday due to the haze. "A code orange air quality alert means that air pollution concentrations within the region may become unhealthy for sensitive groups."
Children, the elderly, people with asthma and those suffering with heart disease or other lung diseases should limit time outside. People are also urged to limit exercise outdoors.
The smoky haze is leading to dramatic sunrises and sunsets.
The haze is also keeping high temperatures down a bit. If we had been smoke-free Tuesday, afternoon temps would have climbed into the low 90s, but instead, 88 degrees was the high. Wednesday, a combination of the smoke and afternoon storms will hold temperatures to the mid to upper 80s.
That cold front sweeping through later Wednesday should clear the smoke from the skies in most of our area for the rest of the week. Those storms could be severe in some neighborhoods so a First Alert will be in effect Wednesday afternoon and early evening.
Here is a look at the expected smoke by Thursday morning.
