A far away wildfire is going to make breathing difficult for some closer to home.
The Lehigh Valley and other areas of Pennsylvania are under a “Code Orange” Air Quality Action Day alert for Wednesday. The alert, issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, is being prompted by a large wildfire in Nova Scotia.
Wind is expected to carry smoke from the blaze our way, increasing the amount of fine particulate matter in the air, according to the DEP. That will also create hazy conditions across the region through Wednesday night.
Other areas under a “Code Orange” Wednesday include Philadelphia and surrounding areas (Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties), as well as the Susquehanna Valley (Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties).
The elderly, young children and anyone with breathing problems such as asthma, emphysema and bronchitis, are advised to stay inside as much as possible.
What air quality alerts mean
Air quality is categorized by a color-coded system:
- Green: Good
- Yellow: Moderate
- Orange: Unhealthy for sensitive groups
- Red: Unhealthy for everyone
- Purple: Very unhealthy
- Maroon: Hazardous
- Air Quality Action Day alerts are issued when the air quality index is forecast to be orange or higher.
The chart below provides more detail on the index values and the corresponding color codes.
Extended forecast
Conditions are expected to remain mostly dry over the next week, with the only chance of precipitation expected over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures will remain mostly seasonable, with a brief warm spell later this week.
Here is the extended forecast:
Tuesday Night: Widespread haze. Mostly clear, with a low around 46. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light and variable after midnight.
Wednesday: Widespread haze. Patchy smoke after 1pm. Sunny, with a high near 81. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Wednesday Night: Widespread haze before midnight. Patchy smoke before 11pm. Patchy fog after 5am. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 51. Southeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 88. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Thursday Night: Clear, with a low around 58. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 94.
Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 62.
Saturday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 82. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Saturday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 53. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 78.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 52.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 85.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 56.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 81.
