Air quality in New York City returned to “moderate” levels early Friday but many areas of the northeast U.S., including Philadelphia, remained at unhealthy levels.
The smoke from Canada’s wildfires may be lifting but it continues to have an impact on the daily lives of millions of Americans. The National Weather Service said it expected some improvement over the weekend but that air quality remained moderate to unhealthy across parts of the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Ohio Valley, and Midwest Friday.
It also warned of “another surge of smoke,” possibly in Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic overnight.
Even at moderate levels, people sensitive to poor air quality are advised to limit outdoor exertion, at unhealthy levels everyone should limit outdoor activities, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow app.
Air quality in New York City began Thursday at “very unhealthy” levels before improving to “unhealthy” for most of the day, according to AirNow data, which are collected by local agencies. It returned to moderate levels at around 2 a.m. Eastern time for the first time since Monday.
Close to 12,000 flights within, into, or out of the U.S. were delayed Wednesday and Thursday as low visibility caused significant disruption to air travel, according to data from flight tracker FlightAware.com. More than 300 flights were delayed Friday as of 4 a.m. Eastern time.
Lumber prices, which tend to rise during wildfires as producers typically reduce output, rose for a fourth consecutive day Thursday. Lumber futures climbed 1.6% to $515 per thousand board feet—prices have climbed 7% over the past week.
Write to Callum Keown at [email protected]
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