September 16, 2020
Smoke From California Wildfires Creates Haze Over NYC
A climate specialist at Columbia University says smoke reaching this far east is unusual while forecasters say haze should move out soon.
(But there's still pink haze today, the 17th. - De)
by By Jeff Arnold, Patch Staff
patch.com
Unlike smog levels that often change the color of the sky around New York City, smoke levels from West Coast fires have traveled unusual distances this week.
NEW YORK CITY — As the damaging West Coast wildfires continue to burn more than 2,500 miles away, the impact of the blazes has reached New York and points east in the form of smoke high above the ground level that has created a haze over the city this week.
While local weather officials forecast that the smoke won't impact air quality, it has and will continue to affect the color of the sky and has created a bright orange tinge to the sun. According to the National Weather Service, satellites show the smoke to be at between 20,000 and 30,000 feet above the surface.
The smoke has continued to travel east thanks to jet-stream winds, which, according to reports, is a ribbon of air located anywhere from 4-8 miles above land that can move as quickly as 275 miles per hour.
According to Dr. Robert Field, a climate specialist at Columbia University, long-range smoke events take place a couple of times a year and depend heavily on weather patterns. Earlier this summer for instance, a similar event took place around the Arctic due to fires in Siberia. However, the noticeable haze this occurred this week in New York City is considered to be unusual.
"The smoke often extends into the midwest, but rarely travels so far east," Field wrote in an email to Patch on Wednesday, citing the number of fires currently burning in California, Oregon and Washington as the reason for the distance smoke has extended east.
As far as the color of he sun locals may have witnessed this week, Field said that smoke particles are scattering more of the blue light, so what results is an extra-orange sun, but dimmer by the overall effect of the smoke.
Michael Souza, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told the New York Times this week that a perfect recipe of weather conditions, including the jet stream, which has made its way east from the Great Lakes.
Although the skies haven't changed the deep shade of red-orange that have hidden the sun from residents of Northern California, the impact of the smoke has been visibly evident across New York and locations as far east as Washington.
Forecasters from New York Metro Weather told Patch on Wednesday that the hazy skies likely will remain in New York through Thursday night, when a cold front is expected to sweep it out of the area.
New York is expected to see temperatures in the mid-70s on Thursday before they drop into the mid-60s by Friday.
According to NASA, a shift in the winds has blown the smoke to the east and has placed particles into the air that are creating hazardous air conditions from some around the country. NASA officials said that all smoke contains carbon dioxide or soot and the smaller the particles, the easier they are to be inhaled and to be absorbed in the lungs.
http://patch.com/new-york/new-york-city/wildfires-weather-patterns-push-smoke-east-create-haze-over-nyc
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