Smoky skies in Bucks County? Canadian wildfires burning again
It's wildfire season in Canada and the upper Northeast, and there are at least six reported wildfires stretching from Rhode Island to Quebec.
Could those wildfires push a smoky haze into Bucks County and the Delaware Valley?
National Weather Service says wildfire impact depends on wind direction
Bucks County and the Delaware Valley will be spared from the heaviest traveling smoke caused by the wildfires for now, said Amanda Lee, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
"Overall and at least for the next several days, we will be mainly looking at south and southwesterly winds," Lee said. "So generally speaking, that means we will be drawing air from the southern region of the country, as opposed to other locations."
2024 wildfire season primer: Canadian wildfires have started. Will smoke descend on the USA like last year?
What is the air quality right now in Bucks County?
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection updates its air quality index every hour, and as of Monday morning, the air quality for the Bucks County area was "good."
The environmental protection department tracks five air quality contaminants.
"The AQI reports on five major air pollutants: ozone, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. An AQI value is given for each monitoring site and pollutant," read a portion of the department's air quality index website. "The overall AQI for a site is the highest index value of any of the pollutants. As levels of any or all of these air pollutants rise beyond health standards, precautionary health warnings are triggered."
Bucks County residents can also track the air quality index through the AQI website.
'Code Red' AQI in Bucks County in 2023: DEP upgrades air quality alert to a Code Red. What it means for Bucks County
How can I track these wildfires?
Residents, particularly those with any respiratory issues, may want to keep an eye on recently discovered and currently blazing wildfires in the northeast.
Wildfires prompt evacuations, air alerts Canadian wildfires prompt evacuations in Alberta and British Columbia, air advisories in US
Smoke from 2023 Canadian wildfires reached Bucks County
Smoke from the wildfires pushed into the state from the Great Lakes region last June, causing the environmental protection agency to issue a Code Red Action Day.
At the time, the department advised individuals with respiratory problems such as asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis, are particularly vulnerable, and are advised to limit outdoor activities and physical exertion.
During last year's code red alert, the department also advised people to avoid the open burning of leaves, trash, and other materials; the DEP also cautioned against using gas-powered lawn and garden equipment.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health also released a tipsheet on dealing with the smoky air.
What's the wildfire forecast in the U.S.?
AccuWeather, in its 2024 wildfire forecast, said that the upcoming wildfire season in the U.S. is not expected to shatter records, but "millions of people may still face hazardous air quality from blazes burning across the country and Canada."
Overall, AccuWeather said that the 2024 U.S. wildfire season is expected to be below average in terms of the number of fires and acres burned. Fires across the country are predicted to burn between 4 and 6 million acres of land in 2024, below the historical average of around 7 million acres.
It's already been a newsworthy year for wildfires in the U.S.: Due mainly to the wildfires that roared across the grasslands of Texas in March, some 1.7 million acres have burned in the U.S. so far this year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. That's the most since 2017 and more than double the average of around 700,000 acres (to date), the center said.
Damon C. Williams covers trending and regional developments for PhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Could smoke from Canadian wildfires reach Bucks County?
