Wildfire smoke from Canada hovered over large portions of the United States on Wednesday, creating hazy skies and hazardous air quality from the Northeast to the Southeast.
The National Weather Service issued air quality alerts on Wednesday for New York City and many surrounding areas, including New Jersey and most of Connecticut. Officials said that those more sensitive to air pollution should limit their time outdoors and watch for respiratory symptoms from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The most concentrated area of smoke on Wednesday was over a strip spread from Iowa and Illinois into Wisconsin, with Milwaukee experiencing some of the worst air quality in the country.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warns that wildfire smoke contains dangerous pollutants in the form of fine particles known as PM 2.5 that can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream. Short-term exposure can lead to bronchitis, worsen asthma and create other health issues.
Despite those risks, people flocked to Madison Square Park in Manhattan on Wednesday afternoon, sprawling on the lawn in swimsuits and having lunch at picnic tables. More than a few business meetings seemed to have migrated to picnic benches in the shade.
When people were asked about the air quality, most answered with some version of “Huh?”
“It’s beautiful outside,” said Leonardo Hauschld, who was visiting from southern Brazil. “I hadn’t heard anything.”
Some who had heard about the air quality said they couldn’t resist the sunshine and temperatures that reached the mid-80s.
Berit Adelaide, who is from Long Island, took her lunch break in the park even after chatting with a colleague about the air quality. “I still decided to get myself out to get some sunshine,” she said, “but I do see the haze in the air.”
Several air quality warnings were also in effect in Western Canada for areas around the fires in that part of the country, with smoke billowing toward northwest Ontario.
The smoke from the Canadian wildfires moved south and passed over the Midwest on Tuesday, and air quality alerts remained in effect on Wednesday across Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio.
“We’ve definitely had it worse before,” Patrick Chavez, a founder of the Buena Tierra Run Club in Milwaukee, said on Wednesday. Last week, he said, he could smell smoke during one of his runs.
As a leader of a running group, he takes the air quality warnings seriously.
“We don’t always cancel for air quality issues but we do share warnings for those that do have asthma, to carry their inhalers and maybe refrain from working out that day,” he said. (Members of Mr. Chavez’s group are used to used to dealing with extreme weather. He recalled one run when the wind chill put the temperature at minus 29 degrees Fahrenheit.)
Marc Chenard, a meteorologist at the Weather Prediction Center, said that satellite imagery showed a broad swath of smoke still covering the eastern United States on Wednesday. The smoke stretches from northern Georgia to New England across the Ohio Valley and into parts of the Upper Midwest.
“A lot of it is aloft, but there’s still some getting down to the surface,” Mr. Chenard said.
Air quality readings in cities including Minneapolis, St. Paul and Columbus, Ohio, were at “very unhealthy” levels, between 100 and 140, early Wednesday morning, but by Wednesday afternoon those readings were improving, and Milwaukee was in the red zone with a reading of 157, according to the New York Times air quality tracker. The index’s scale runs from 0 to 500; the higher the number, the more polluted the air.
Those levels were an improvement from Tuesday when both St. Paul and Minneapolis had registered readings of 226 in the morning. Above 200, the air is considered “very unhealthy,” and risky for everyone.
In Iowa, an air quality alert issued by the state’s Department of Natural Resources was expected to remain in effect through Thursday morning, according to the Weather Service. Air pollution was expected to remain at unhealthy levels for sensitive groups, and possibly healthy people too, with residents advised to limit outdoor activities until the air quality improves.
An air quality alert for much of Minnesota was in effect through noon on Wednesday, according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
As northern states were dealing with smoke, a large plume of Saharan dust crossed the Atlantic Ocean and was expected to reach Florida by late Wednesday into Thursday, spreading over coastal areas of the Southeast through the weekend.
Although smoke and dust could overlap in some areas of the South, Mr. Chenard said it’s more likely that smoke will clear as the dust arrives.
“They’re both being moved by the same wind,” he said.
On Thursday, the smoke is expected to lighten over the Northeast but is likely to remain heavy in Canada and around the Great Lakes.
“The worst looks to be over,” said Scott Kleebauer, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center. “Yesterday and today were the height of the pattern.”
Vjosa Isai contributed reporting.
Nazaneen Ghaffar is a Times reporter on the Weather team.
Amy Graff is a Times reporter covering weather, wildfires and earthquakes.
Talya Minsberg is a Times reporter covering breaking and developing news.
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