Canada wildfires are sending smoke toward Connecticut, and people in Hartford, Conn. may notice more haze and the smell of smoke starting Tuesday. In Connecticut, skies should stay mainly clear Tuesday, but the smoke could become more noticeable Wednesday into Thursday.
Jill Gilardi said, "Originating north of Minnesota, the smoke is riding around a ridge of high pressure, transported by upper level wind". She also said, "But it’s aloft, therefore we’re not anticipating air quality impacts here in CT related to it."
National Weather Service forecast
The National Weather Service out of New York said smoke from a wildfire outbreak in Ontario, Canada would not affect air quality much Tuesday. The agency said, "While it should not impact air quality much [Tuesday], smoke at the surface could increase Wednesday into Thursday, potentially reducing visibility and air quality".
That timing gives Connecticut a short window between a hazier Tuesday and a potentially worse stretch later in the week. The key change is whether the smoke remains aloft or begins to sink toward the surface, because the forecast points to a bigger effect on visibility and air quality only after Tuesday.
Hartford, Conn. and the shoreline
People in Hartford, Conn. may notice the haze first, while the Connecticut shoreline already has an air quality alert for ground-level ozone. Jill Gilardi said the alert is separate from the wildfire smoke.
A heat advisory for all of Connecticut covers Tuesday and Wednesday, and Gilardi said heat index values likely reach 95 to 105. The smoke may limit high temperatures, but the more immediate concern for readers is the chance that conditions shift from mostly hazy skies to surface-level smoke later in the week.
Connecticut into Thursday
People in Connecticut who are planning time outdoors should watch how Wednesday develops, since the forecast now separates Tuesday’s mainly aloft smoke from the possibility of surface smoke Wednesday into Thursday. If the smoke stays elevated, visibility and air quality may hold steadier; if it drops, the effect becomes more direct for people in Connecticut and along the Connecticut shoreline.
The next change in the forecast will come with whether the smoke at the surface increases as expected Wednesday into Thursday, which is the point at which visibility and air quality could begin to shift more sharply.
