The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection said smoke concentrations had reached and in some cases exceeded levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups, including people with asthma, lung or heart diseases, children, and the elderly.
“The wildfire smoke includes soot particles. They are invisible products of combustion generated by large and numerous fires. They penetrate your system through your lungs,” said Albert Simeoni, head of the department of Fire Protection Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. “There are also gases generated, such as ozone, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and diverse aromatic compounds, but the particulates are the main risk, and they travel far. All these particulates and gases have health effects.”
The areas most impacted by the smoke on Tuesday stretch across Northern and Western New England. Although, Boston is still seeing quite a bit of smoke.
Smoke was able to be seen across New England in satellite imagery below on Monday afternoon, with the dull gray covering the region. A number of people have written in to mention the smell of campfire in the air.
Canada is experiencing a terrible wildfire season with nearly 4,000 wildfires so far this year, close to a record pace. There are currently 700 active wildfires, with around 200 raging out of control.
At this point last year, about 7 million acres had burned in Canada. This year, it’s about 17 million acres and counting.
How long can we expect haze across New England?
Our weather pattern will likely keep haze in the picture for the next few days, as high pressure over eastern Canada will direct the smoke plume into the United States, stretching from the Midwest to New England on Tuesday and beyond.
A surface front will help lift some of the smoke on Tuesday, but not entirely, and air quality alerts may remain in place in some areas.
Beyond Tuesday, smoke will fan and thin out across New England, keeping some haze in the picture as high pressure remains in control, but not as dense near the surface. By the weekend, high pressure will likely dip south of Boston, which will shift the wind direction and clear most of the smoke away.
Ken Mahan can be reached at ken.mahan@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @kenmahantheweatherman.
