Smoke from Canada wildfires is drifting into Connecticut, and the change is already enough to make skies look a little hazy and leave some people noticing a smell of smoke starting Tuesday. The National Weather Service out of New York said the haze is tied to a wildfire outbreak in Ontario, Canada.
That is why the keyword is surfacing now: people in Connecticut are seeing the first effects today, even though the bigger concern is later in the week. In Connecticut, skies should be mainly clear on Tuesday, but Jill Gilardi said the smoke is aloft, so air quality impacts are not anticipated here because of it.
The forecast is not calling for a dramatic change right away. The smoke should stay mostly elevated on Tuesday, and Gilardi said the shoreline alert issued the same day is for ground-level ozone, not the wildfire smoke. She also said a heat advisory is in place for all of Connecticut for Tuesday and Wednesday, with heat index values likely to reach 95 to 105, and the smoke may limit high temperatures.
The part to watch is Wednesday into Thursday, when surface smoke could increase and begin to matter more for visibility and air quality. The National Weather Service said the smoke should not affect air quality much on Tuesday, but could become more noticeable later in the week, which leaves the real question in how much of that smoke actually makes it down to the ground in Connecticut. For now, Gilardi’s read is that the smoke is riding above the state, not sitting in it.
