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Smoke forecast brightens for Hudson Valley

Peter D. Kramer, Rockland/Westchester Journal News
·4 min read

The Canadian wildfires continue to burn, but Hudson Valley skies should begin to look a lot less sepia on Friday and clear up considerably by the weekend.

Elise Finch, longtime meteorologist with CBS New York, said Thursday that the low-pressure system that has been funneling the Canadian smokescreen in our direction will shift slightly, and push the cloud south and west. That will improve things across metro New York and the Hudson Valley, and drop the EPA's Air Quality Index from the dangerous levels it has seen in recent days.

Natalie Russell of Nyack wears her scarf as a mask on Main St. in Nyack, because of the smoke from fires in Canada covering the area June 7, 2023. "It's a little eerie" she said, "and I'd hate to go back to masks, but it does smell and it's just eerie. Onimous, but it'll blow over I think"
Natalie Russell of Nyack wears her scarf as a mask on Main St. in Nyack, because of the smoke from fires in Canada covering the area June 7, 2023. "It's a little eerie" she said, "and I'd hate to go back to masks, but it does smell and it's just eerie. Onimous, but it'll blow over I think"

"(Friday) going to be a much better day," Finch said. "I'm not promising a perfect day. It's not going to be great. We don't go back to an Air Quality Index below 50, which is where we should be. But it will be better. It will be easier to breathe. It will be easier to see on Friday. And then we expect that to continue a bit."

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Rain in the forecast

The index, which measures particulate matter in the air, hit record highs in New York on Wednesday, with the sun-filtered smoke turning the sky a bright apocalyptic orange. New York City Mayor Eric Adams reported a record-shattering AQI reading of 484, nearly 10 times the normal reading.

Smoke forecasts — yes, they're a thing — don't extend too far, Finch said, "but I'll just say we're better heading into the weekend."

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There's also rain in the forecast, which will help to reduce the particulates in the air, Finch said.

"It would be great if we did see a massive front move through with tremendous rainfall that would do a lot, not just to help extinguish wildfires, but it would do a lot for our air quality," Finch said. "We don't quite get that (Friday), but we do have a significant chance to see some showers and thunderstorms that are popping up before the end of the day. We're at about 60% chance that we'll be looking at some wet weather."

Air quality alert on, numbers dropping

An air quality alert was still in effect till Thursday for the entire Metro New York area, extending to Long Island, Westchester, Rockland, Orange and Putnam counties. The AQI was expected to be at about 100, down from those needle-burying record levels of recent days. (The higher the AQI value, the greater the health concern, the NWS says.)

Talking about smoke forecasts and AQI is something new for Finch, who grew up in Mount Vernon.

"I've never had to really use the air quality index," she said. "We've never recorded numbers this high, but we certainly never had to talk about it where the average person, a healthy person with no health issues at all would have to be concerned."

In the hazy-hot-and-humid summer days, she said, warnings against strenuous exercise are common.

Elise Finch is a meteorologist for WCBS New York.
Elise Finch is a meteorologist for WCBS New York.

"But to see because of air quality you shouldn't even spend time outdoors? That's something I have just never seen in my career," Finch said.

Until the smoke lifts, health professionals suggest breaking out masks to limit exposure to harmful air.

On Wednesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state will hand out a million N95 masks at MTA sites, including Grand Central Metropolitan Transit Authority sites such as Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station, as well as state parks in Manhattan and the Bronx."

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What questions do you have about how the wildfire smoke is affecting air quality in New York?

Are you worried about loved ones with breathing problems? Should you cancel outdoor events this week or weekend?

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Reach Peter D. Kramer at pkramer@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY air quality: Hudson Valley smoke forecast brightens in coming days