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Modest smoke plumes expected to sweep NYC Friday night, potentially Sunday
morning
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MODEST SMOKE PLUMES EXPECTED TO SWEEP NYC FRIDAY NIGHT, POTENTIALLY SUNDAY
MORNING



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By
Nsikan Akpan

Published Jun 9, 2023

Modified Jun 10, 2023 at 12:00 p.m.

11 comments

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Vanessa Carvalho/Shutterstock

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By
Nsikan Akpan

Published Jun 9, 2023

Modified Jun 10, 2023 at 12:00 p.m.

11 comments

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Air quality is improving across New York City, but officials and meteorologists
are tracking a modest plume of Canadian wildfire smoke that’s expected to sweep
across the tristate region Friday night. Another could potentially arrive Sunday
morning if the current forecasts hold.

They do not predict that the air quality index (AQI) will return to hazardous
levels so New Yorkers can still enjoy outdoor activities this weekend. But
they’re urging parents, family, friends and caretakers to monitor symptoms among
children and people with underlying conditions as air quality could fluctuate at
times.

“Conditions may appear to have improved since early this week, but it does not
mean that we are in the clear, particularly for sensitive groups,” Deputy Mayor
for Public Safety Philip Banks said at a public safety briefing held Friday
afternoon at City Hall. He was joined by NYC Emergency Management Commissioner
Zachary Iscol, city Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan and Victoria Cerullo,
acting executive director for the Mayor's Office of Climate & Environmental
Justice.

Banks listed the sensitive groups as children, teenagers, people with lung
diseases such as asthma, heart disease, diabetes and people who are active
outdoors. Effects of exposure to air pollution include coughing, eye irritation
and shortness of breath. Banks and Vasan urged people at very high risk for
complications to spend as much time as possible inside and wear high-quality
masks outdoors.

“We recommend limiting time outside and reducing activity levels if you are
unusually sensitive to particle pollution,” Vasan said. “What that means for New
Yorkers is people with heart or breathing problems or older adults.”

Projections by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show that the
New York metropolitan area may see a plume Friday night around 9 p.m. The air
clears on Saturday, and then another plume is forecasted to arrive early Sunday
morning.




Canadian wildfires in Ontario and Quebec had been delivering large amounts of
dangerous smoke to the New York metro area earlier this week. That was due to a
stalled, swirling cyclone of air near Maine that was blocking the typically
eastward airflow and forcing the smoke south.

Meteorologists say this air mass is weakening and shifting west over New York
and surrounding states. It’s basically acting like a protective dome, and that’s
now shifting the smoke plumes toward the Midwest.

But the tristate area sits on the edge of the dome, so some wisps may
occasionally crossover.

Public radio meteorologist Garett Argianas told Gothamist that AQI levels might
range between "moderate" to “unhealthy for sensitive groups” when the plumes
arrive. He added that Sunday's prediction is less certain as smoke forecasts are
less precise beyond a 24-hour window.




“Once you get out about a day or so, those smoke projections can be off. So it's
certainly advised to check in day to day.” Argianas said. He added that warmer
temperatures on Sunday could slightly increase levels of ground-level ozone,
another air pollutant that’s common in urban areas.

The forecast projections arrived not long after the city’s air quality had
reached a turning point. For the first time since Tuesday, the air quality index
dropped to what environmental officials consider "good."

“For this time of year, we're normally between zero and 50 (AQI), which would be
in the green or healthy levels,” said health commissioner Vasan. “It's not
uncommon when you have a period of high temperature, not too many storms, high
heat to have a day where the AQI is above 100 for a day. But typically, it
doesn't last longer than that.”



A hazy view of the Manhattan skyline from Long Island City, captured just before
2 p.m. on June 7.

Chau Lam

Iscol recommended that people register for Notify NYC to get updates on air
quality and other aspects of public safety. He said the digital platform has
more than a million subscribers and is available in 14 languages, including
American Sign Language. Vasan also urged New Yorkers to keep tabs on
developments via the city health department’s website.

“We are now distributing masks across hundreds of firehouses and precincts
across the city, and so I encourage everybody to take advantage of that,” Iscol
said.



Cerullo reflected on how the intensity and number of fires are higher with
climate change — and how wildfire season is peaking earlier in many places,
nationally and internationally.

“Unless we accelerate our efforts to combat climate change, these fires and
other extreme weather events will become more and more common,” Cerullo said.

Vasan said that the weekend conditions would be good enough to be outside with
his children.

“But I'm going to check on how my children are feeling regularly, watching for
watery eyes, sore throats, and shortness of breath, and I'll bring them inside
if they're showing any signs of this irritation,” he said. Banks added that he
expected beaches to remain open throughout the weekend.

Based on weather predictions, Iscol and Argianas expected NYC’s air quality to
clear and return to normal early next week.

This story was updated with a chart showing the AQI measurements for the night
of Friday, June 9.

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Orange skies explained for kids: How parents can answer questions about poor air
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Unhealthy air quality in NYC not expected to affect water, per EPA


Tagged

Health and Science
NYC air quality
environment
new york city

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Nsikan Akpan
Twitter

Nsikan runs the health and science desk at WNYC/Gothamist. Nsikan was previously
at National Geographic where he worked as a science editor, overseeing its
COVID-19 coverage in addition to other topics in science, health and technology.
Before National Geographic, he worked for more than four years at PBS NewsHour,
where he co-created an award-winning video series named ScienceScope. He shared
a 2020 Emmy for the PBS NewsHour series “Stopping a Killer Pandemic” and in 2019
received a George Foster Peabody Award for the PBS NewsHour series “The Plastic
Problem.” Nsikan has also worked for NPR, Science News Magazine, Science
Magazine, KUSP Central Coast Public Radio, the Santa Cruz Sentinel and as a
writer at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University. He holds
a doctorate in pathobiology from Columbia University and is an alum of the
science communication program at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Read more

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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