New York City, Long Island and New Jersey have been hit with air-quality alerts as another plume of smoke from Canadian wildfires swirls down across the Great Lakes and into the eastern US.

The current forecast calls for the Air Quality Index in New York and Long Island on Wednesday to reach a range of 101 to 150, or unhealthy for sensitive groups. The air in western New York, including Buffalo and Rochester, is expected to fall into the unhealthy range with an AQI of 151 to 200.

Midwestern and Mid-Atlantic states are under alerts as the smoke plume drifts across the US, blanketing major cities including Chicago, Washington, Detroit and Cleveland. In New York, the alert remains in effect until midnight, the National Weather Service said.

New York City and the Northeast had some of the worst air quality in the world earlier this month when smoke from Quebec forest fires floated south, turning the skies over Manhattan orange. The haze triggered flight delays and led to the cancellation of outdoor events. Across Canada, 487 fires are raging, with 253 burning out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

Author: Brian K. Sullivan