Smoke from Canadian wildfires is expected to make a return to much of New York state on Monday, and that has triggered an air quality alertfrom the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation and the NYS Health Dept.
The advisory is in effect for all parts of the state, but the wildfire smoke is the main culprit in places including central and western NY, the Adirondacks, and the Hudson Valley.
The New York City metro area will be dealing with an ozone advisory.
Most of upstate, north of the New York City area and Lower Hudson Valley, are expected to be in the ‘unhealthy’ range, which is an Air Quality Index (AQI) range of 151 to 200, which means everyone may begin to experience health effects, but members of sensitive groups, may have more serious health effects.
During a news conference about flooding downstate on Sunday, Gov. Kathy Hochul mentioned the expected air quality advisory, stating that, “People with asthma, people who have compromised respiratory systems, people, because of age or because they’re little babies…if you don’t see it looking as bad as it did a few weeks ago, when the numbers hit 400, it doesn’t mean that it’s safe for you to breathe if you’re in one of these categories.”
The air quality health advisory for the fine particulate matter is in effect on Monday from midnight through 11:59 p.m. State officials advise going indoors when the air quality degrades which may reduce exposure. They also suggest avoiding strenuous activities in areas where fine particle concentrations are high.
You can get up to date information on the Air Quality Index at airnow.gov and there is also a smartphone app available.
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