East Coast grapples with thick smoke from Canada wildfires

Smoke from wildfires in northern Quebec made it to New York City on Wednesday. Much of the Northeast U.S. is experiencing hazardous air quality conditions.

Smoke from wildfires in northern Quebec made it to New York City on Wednesday. Much of the Northeast U.S. is experiencing hazardous air quality conditions.

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Smoke from wildfires in northern Quebec made it to New York City on Wednesday. Much of the Northeast U.S. is experiencing hazardous air quality conditions.

Californians are not strangers to days with intense wildfire smoke, but people living in the northeastern United States are.

This week, photos and videos posted on social media show thick smoke choking the skies from upstate New York through the Mid-Atlantic.

Check out this almost unbelievable time-lapse of wildfire smoke consuming the World Trade Center and the New York City skyline.Those vulnerable to poor air quality, including seniors and young children, should limit time outdoors if possible.More: https://t.co/ChRuWv7X6E pic.twitter.com/mtKtLun8lN

9:45 AM at NWS Binghamton. Sun is no longer visible, everything's orange, the parking lot lights have come on, and we're stuck at 50°F. pic.twitter.com/Ibu2oE2af5

That smoke has been carried along hundreds of miles from northern Quebec by the jet stream, the corridor of fast-moving winds thousands of feet up in the atmosphere.

Dozens of large fires in that region started last week and grew quickly over the weekend as temperatures rose well above average.

(Video below: Timelapse video shows smoke engulfing NYC over a 3-hour period)

According to fire experts in Canada, May is typically when wildfire season ramps up for much of the country.

"All across Canada and parts of the northern states, as soon as the snow disappears, we call it the spring window. It's easy for fires to start," said Mike Flannigan, who studies fire behavior at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia.

Across interior Canada, spring storms bring wind and very dry air from the Arctic. That weather can create dangerous fire conditions if something were to spark.

Flannigan said those occasional weather systems coupled with a recent dry winter and several spring heat waves have accelerated the start to fire season in several Canadian provinces.

According to NASA, fires in Quebec alone have burned about 600 square miles in 2023. A more average season would have season about 1 square mile burned by early June.

Air quality conditions are expected to improve somewhat in the Northeast later on Thursday as the wind shifts, but as long as fires continue to burn to the north, the risk for more smoke persists.

Flannigan said firefighters in Canada face very similar challenges to the U.S. West. He notes that climate change is one of the biggest challenges, with warmer, drier springs becoming increasingly likely for the Canadian wildlands.

But also like California, Canadian officials and landowners are putting more resources toward fuel management and other methods of mitigating large wildfires.

"Things are changing. We’re using more prescribed fire, working with indigenous groups to bring more fire back on the landscape," Flannigan said.