When Will Wildfire Smoke Clear In Massachusetts?

MASSACHUSETTS — Although at lower levels than earlier this week, wildfire smoke was still lingering in the air across Massachusetts on Wednesday. When will the smoke clear?

According to the National Weather Service, smoke from fires burning in Quebec will begin to clear late Wednesday, but the haze may not exit the state until near sunrise Thursday. Parts of the state south of the Mass Pike will continue to see smoke through the morning, southern Worcester County in particular.

Smoke levels were low in Massachusetts on Wednesday compared to other parts of the Northeast.

A "code red" air quality alert was issued in New Jersey. Cities like New York and Philadelphia were blanketed by an orange smoke, leading to ominous photos of their skylines.

All of Massachusetts was under an air quality advisory on Tuesday, but that warning expired at midnight. The National Weather Service warned that smoke even at lower levels can be a health threat for people who have respiratory diseases like asthma.

There are approximately 160 wildfires burning across Quebec, part of a wider group of more than 300 fires across the country that some are calling Canada's worst fire season ever. Quebec's fire prevention agency has said high temperatures and dry conditions have contributed to the raging fire season.

Previous fires in Nova Scotia and Alberta have sent smoke into New England, prompting air quality warnings.