BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Dozens of wildfires continue to burn across Canada, sending plumes of smoke into the sky and once again spreading unhealthy air far beyond the flames.
Some of the largest fires have produced thick smoke that has drifted south into the United States in recent days, and now it’s heading for the Lehigh Valley.
Smoke drifted over the Great Lakes on Monday night and pushed east, the National Weather Service said, with forecasters warning it will result in smokier skies for the Lehigh Valley and large swaths of the eastern United States on Tuesday.
Where the fires are burning
The fires stretch across multiple Canadian provinces, from British Columbia and Alberta to Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.
Information, maps and data services available through the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System showed 77 uncontrolled fires burning, with 25 more being held and 47 controlled, along with 25 that had a “modified response” on Tuesday.
Reports say Canada’s peak wildfire season is just beginning, but already about half the average annual area has been burned.
By the weekend, at least 25,000 people had been forced to evacuate the flames, according to the Associated Press.
Manitoba alone accounted for 17,000 of the evacuations, with two large fires there responsible for scorching more than 247,000 acres on the border of Ontario, about 65 miles northeast of Winnipeg.
Smoke speads, affects air quality
The smoke is being carried by the jet stream, experts say, traveling into the southeastern United States over the weekend, with hazy skies reported all the way to Florida.
Dense smoke also shrouded the Midwest and Pacific Northwest, lowering temperatures and visibility.
Now, forecasters say that smoke will affect the Lehigh Valley for the next couple of days. But as high pressure builds in the eastern United States, the jet stream eventually should shift northward, redirecting the smoke back toward Canada.
Air quality in the Lehigh Valley is expected to be moderate on Tuesday, and unhealthy for sensitive groups Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, according to a worldwide air quality monitor.
Models from NOAA’s Global Systems Laboratory depict more of the smoke becoming “near surface” smoke in the Lehigh Valley late Tuesday, bringing particulate pollution that can affect people with heart or lung conditions, older adults and children.
