NJ should get colorful sunsets this week thanks to Canadian wildfires 2,600 miles away

Scott Fallon, NorthJersey.com
Updated ·1 min read
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Raging wildfires in western Canada have forced the evacuation of tens of thousands in Alberta, burned through large swaths of forest and prompted air quality warnings in Colorado and Montana.

But 2,600 miles away in the relatively safe confines of New Jersey, residents will simply enjoy a few stunning sunrises and sunsets this week courtesy of the fires.

Smoke from Canada's wildfires entered the Garden State's atmosphere overnight Sunday, creating a hazy, red sunrise across the region on Monday. With no rain forecast this week, the hazy conditions should remain in effect, meteorologists said.

Satellite maps from the National Weather Service show prevailing winds carrying the smoke across the upper Midwest, through the Great Lakes region and into Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and much of the rest of the Northeast.

New Jersey's air quality was in good to moderately polluted conditions Monday afternoon, according to the Department of Environmental Protection, but the smoke likely had no bearing.

In this photo released by the British Columbia Wildfire Service, a 2,000 hectares planned ignition is successfully completed on the Stoddart Creek wildfire, on Saturday, May 20, 2023, in Stoddart Creek, British Columbia. The operation achieved its objective of removing unburnt, highly susceptible understory fuels and timber between the fire's westernmost edge and Highway 97 and has reduced the likelihood of further spread west across the highway.

Smoke traveling across the continent usually ends up in the mid-to-upper atmosphere. That has been the case in recent years when smoke from wildfires in California has reached New Jersey.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Canada wildfires smoke to turn NJ skies, sunsets hazy yellow