This is trending toward one of the worse air days NYC's has endured in a few years. NYC air quality stinks more that I can remember in a long time. Dangerous wildfire smoke is filling the skies from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic.
And in some areas, conditions are expected to worsen.
In fact, this is genuinely one of the worst smoke events NYC has seen since the orange-sky days of June 2023.
A few details worth noting since we're in it right now:
- New York State's Air Quality Health Advisory for fine particulate matter now covers the entire state, and DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton said the whole state will see visible smoke, moving from western/central NY down through the Lower Hudson Valley and into the city as the day goes on. New York GovernorABC7 New York
- Thursday's AQI was forecast to hit around 200 in NYC well past the alert threshold of 101 which would make it the city's worst smoke event since June 2023. For reference, that 2023 event peaked at 465, and current conditions aren't expected to reach that level, though officials are watching closely for further deterioration. Spectrum News NY1 + 2
- The source: a cluster of actively burning wildfires in northwestern Ontario is throwing large smoke plumes across the Great Lakes and Northeast, part of an active 2026 Canadian fire season driven by warm, dry conditions. City of New York
- Because of the bad air, the city is steering people toward indoor cooling centers rather than outdoor pools, beaches, or spray showers, with NYC Health + Hospitals running cooling vans on the streets. Spectrum News NY1
- Standard advice applies: cut back outdoor activity, wear an N95 if you have to be out, keep windows shut and run an air purifier or AC. ABC7 New York
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