See It: NYC Hit By West Coast Wildfire Smoke

NEW YORK CITY — New Yorkers woke up Tuesday to a sun colored like red desert dunes. They posted photos showing the discolored sunrise alongside videos of thick smoke swallowing the New York City skyline.

Nelson Vaz, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service's office in New York, spoke with Patch about Tuesday's weather conditions.

"You have these fires in Northern California up into Southern Canada," Vaz said. "You have generally prevailing winds that are moving from off the Pacific Ocean, through these areas where the [fires are], across the U.S.-Canadian border, Southern Canada, and then coming across, down into the Northeast U.S. That's really why we've seen that smoke today at this level."

The National Weather Service is working with the EPA and the NYC Department of Environmental Protection on the upcoming forecasts, Vaz said.

"We've seen the strongest concentrations come in generally this morning and through this afternoon and evening," Vaz said Tuesday. "It's gonna continue tomorrow."

The New York Metro Weather Twitter account has been posting graphics showing smoke density around New York City area.

A dense layer of smoke, originating from wildfires in the Western US and Canada, is drifting over the NYC Metro this morning. Hazy skies are already noticeable and will become thicker later, with some smoke even dropping relatively close to the surface (where we are). pic.twitter.com/mXgdfTTQps
— New York Metro Weather (@nymetrowx) July 20, 2021

The density of smoke in the lowest 10m of the atmosphere (that’s where we are) will increase later today. This will result in visibly hazy conditions and poor air quality throughout the NYC Metro. Take it easy out there. pic.twitter.com/F2aCRdOTOX
— New York Metro Weather (@nymetrowx) July 20, 2021

Photos of the red sun were posted on Twitter, including one by Miguel Pierre, a forecaster for New York Metro Weather.

Hazy Sunrise from Wildfire Smoke out West #nywx #nycwx pic.twitter.com/BkcuFNcEkA
— Miguel Pierre (@mpierre19) July 20, 2021

Is the sun so hazy due to wildfire smoke? @nymetrowx pic.twitter.com/E9AFxI7kCU
— Theresa Juva-Brown (@TJuva) July 20, 2021

One New Yorker jokingly compared the poor visibility in New York City today to that of Beijing's.

I can barely see the NYC skyline less than 2 miles away because of the smoke/haze. Was jokingly saying the air quality is like Beijing out there today - It's actually worse. https://t.co/IHQSoFfsuY pic.twitter.com/wR802jy5aV
— Chris DeVito (@ChrisDeVitoWX) July 20, 2021

"The visibility has come down to as little as three to six miles in some places and most of those [visibility] restrictions have been due to haze and the smoke," Vaz verified, based on local weather sensors.

The smoke has produced unhealthy levels of air quality across the entirety of Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. PurpleAir and AirNow, two commonly used air quality monitoring sites, show the most current AQI (Air Quality Index) levels for New York City.

Fox weather meteorologist Greg Diamond reported that "today's air quality is the worst in NYC in at least 7 years."

With an AQI ~150, today's air quality is the worst in #NYC in at least 7 years

Incredible that it's due to wildfires 2,500 miles away

@EarthCam pic.twitter.com/8ECpADCt5L
— Greg Diamond (@gdimeweather) July 20, 2021

The National Weather Service announced the air quality alert shortly after noon on Tuesday:

"The higher the AQI value, the greater the health concern. When pollution levels are elevated...the New York State Department of Health recommends that individuals consider limiting strenuous outdoor physical activity to reduce the risk of adverse health effects. People who may be especially sensitive to the effects of elevated levels of pollutants include the very young and those with pre existing respiratory problems such as asthma or heart disease. Those with symptoms should consider consulting their personal physician."

"The main thing is because that smoke is basically getting dispersed down to the surface is that we do have excessive fine particular matter reaching unhealthy levels," Vaz said. "The highest concentration [of fine particulate matter] that we've seen have been today.

"[There's] some indication that we can see some improvement tomorrow."

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