MSGID: 1:317/3 64860bc7
PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08
TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08
June 11, 2023 - Wildfire Smoke Blankets East Coast

   Wildfire Smoke
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   Wildfire smoke from Canada has passed over the northeastern U.S.
   multiple times each summer in recent years, but it often goes unnoticed
   because it is relatively high in the atmosphere. That was not the case
   in June 2023. In the first week of the month, large amounts of smoke
   from fires in Quebec poured south into the eastern U.S. and degraded
   the quality of surface-level air that tens of millions of people
   breathe.

   Winds typically move smoke from fires in Quebec toward the east and out
   to sea. But in June 2023, a persistent coastal low centered near Prince
   Edward Island instead steered smoke south into the United States. This
   image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on
   NASA’s Terra satellite shows smoke sweeping over parts of the
   northeastern United States on June 7, 2023. The brown smoke, high in
   particulate matter, was particularly dense over New York, Pennsylvania,
   and northern New Jersey, where it obscured the land from view.

   Smoke reaching the northeastern United States from Canada in 2023 from
   fires raging in western Canada has mostly arrived at fairly high
   altitudes. But since the fires in Quebec are relatively close to the
   northeast U.S., a much larger proportion of the smoke arrived in
   surface-level air. Around the time of the image, AirNow air quality
   monitors measured levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) soaring
   above 400 micrograms per cubic meter of air in Syracuse, New York—the
   highest on record for the city since routine measurements began in
   1999.

   At 9 a.m. Eastern Time on June 8, air quality monitors in parts of
   Pennsylvania recorded levels deemed “hazardous” (code maroon) on the
   EPA’s Air Quality Index (AQI) scale. The AQI for large cities such as
   New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. registered in the
   “very unhealthy” range (code purple). The prior day, a monitor near
   Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, recorded a 24-hour average AQI of “hazardous,”
   which is thought to be extremely rare in the region.

   As of the morning of June 10, 144 wildfires continued to burn in
   Quebec, with nearly 14,000 people in that province under evacuation
   orders. With more than 860 personnel fighting the blazes, with regular
   firefighting units enhanced with assistance from Canadian Armed Forces
   and international assistance, progress has been made and beating back
   some of the flames.

   Shifting winds has also helped improve air quality in the United
   States. According to AirNow, as of June 10 smoke from wildfires in
   Western Canada and Quebec have both pushed south, covering a wide swath
   of the U.S. from Montana to Central Florida and far over the Atlantic
   Ocean. However, the Air Quality Index is much improved. Mechanicsburg,
   Indiana registered one of the worst AQIs on Saturday morning, at 149 or
   Code Orange (Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups). Except for a pocket near
   that town, most of the rest of the smoke-covered region is in the
   “Moderate” (Code Yellow) range. Parts of New York, including Long
   Island, where the AQI peaked at over 420 on June 7, registered an AQI
   of 6 (Code Green, “Good”) on June 10.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Terra
   Date Acquired: 6/7/2023
   Resolutions:  1km (202.6 KB),  500m (627.8 KB),  250m (1.9 MB)
   Bands Used: 1,4,3
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2023-06-11
 
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