Let's "Enjoy" Hellscape 2023! The Great Smokening!

“It looks like we're still going to be dealing with some of the smoke today, but the latest trends show it’s not going to be anywhere as bad as we saw Wednesday or Tuesday evening,” said David Stark, a New York-based meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Air quality should improve substantially on Thursday evening and into Friday, with more clearing expected over the weekend as the low-pressure system that’s been pushing the wildfire smoke from Canada to the Northeastern U.S. finally heads for the hills – or, more accurately, down south and to the Atlantic Ocean.

And RWers are calling it a plot to get people wearing masks whenever they're told.

More than 300 New Yorkers visited local emergency rooms on Wednesday due to asthma symptoms, according to the latest data from the city's health department. That's almost double the count from the previous day.

The ER visits spiked along with the concentration of airborne pollution spirited south from Canadian wildfires this week. The Air Quality Index, a measure of air pollution, peaked at "hazardous" levels on Wednesday afternoon. Exposure to the polluted air can be especially dangerous for older adults, children and people with pre-existing health conditions like asthma.

Exposure to the polluted air can be especially dangerous for older adults, children and people with pre-existing health conditions like asthma.

Why does this cause the sky to change colors, though?
That's a great question. As you probably know, all that sunlight is basically made of all the colors of the rainbow.

When you have smoke in the atmosphere, the blue light, which is mainly short wavelengths of light, is easily scattered by these particles that are in the atmosphere from the smoke. They're bounced around, which stops the blue light from getting to your eyes and you perceiving the blue light.

Red light, which is longer wavelengths, can penetrate the smoke more easily. Therefore, you see more red, orange and yellow in the sky than you would see under normal circumstances.

Some parts of the Midwest and further East are blanketed in a shroud of hazy smoke today due to the Canadian wildfires.

Here are a few dispatches from the affected areas:

Chicago’s air quality was the worst of anywhere in the world at one point yesterday, according to WBEZ. The Illinois city had an air quality rating of “unhealthy” as of 9 a.m. local time.

Meteorologists expect Michigan’s air quality to fluctuate this week between unhealthy for sensitive groups and unhealthy for everyone, Michigan Radio reported. An official with the American Lung Association warned all residents to take precautions.

A thick haze is moving from Erie and the Great Lakes region across Pittsburgh, WESA said. A code red air quality alert issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is in effect for several counties all day Wednesday.