Spacecraft images show the massive smoke from wildfires in Canada as it descends into the Northern U.S.
Canada continues to have one of its worst wildfire seasons, with more than 400 fires sending smoke throughout Canada and into the U.S., creating air quality concerns. Last week, New York City faced its worst Air Quality Index rating on record when the wildfire smoke turned the skies orange and red for hours.
Extreme wildfire activity, with more than half of the fires considered out of control, will continue to send smoke into the northern U.S. NOAA satellites tracking the smoke and weather patterns show where it’s headed next.
NOAA’s GOES East satellite has an instrument called the Advanced Baseline Imager or ABI that observes dust, haze, smoke and clouds 24 hours a day.
The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, or CIRA, shared a loop from satellite imagery showing the wildfire smoke wrapping around a low-pressure system over the Midwest.
On Tuesday, GOES East shows the smoke swirling around the low-pressure system avoiding the Great Lakes but dropping the smoke into the Dakotas, Nebraska, northwest Minnesota, Iowa and as far south as parts of Kansas and Missouri.
Parts of those states are under Code Yellow or moderate on the Air Quality Index.
Another radar loop shows more near-surface smoke dropping into the Great Lakes and upper Midwest later this week.
Smoke will continue pushing south from Canada, with moderate levels seen as far south as Wisconsin and Illinois on Wednesday.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, the Dakotas and Minnesota will experience moderate to thick wildfire smoke by Thursday morning.