Air quality and the fires in Canada

[aurora]

Jun 7, 2023 8:01:17 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I'm more baffled by how this is the first time in my lifetime that I've experienced this. It's not like the Eastern part of the continent doesn't have forests, or dry weather, or stupid humans. Yes, weather patterns are playing a role here and the winds just blow how they blow but have we really been that lucky that the wind never blew this much wildfire smoke this way until now? I know western smoke has made its way here but still, I'm just shocked that this hasn't happened here more often (but I know it will).

But the West has had a lot more dry weather (severe drought) than the East, so it does make sense that more of the fires have been in the West.

I hope it improves soon for everyone. Being enveloped by that haze feels very oppressive.

[msmerymac]

People in suburban Philly (and south Jersey I hear) have been calling 911 to report smoke smell.

Our kitchen is the only room not hooked up to our heat pump and so we usually have the windows open there. It definitely had a smell like someone grilling or having a camp fire yesterday. Thankfully the new heat pump filters are working in the rest of the house, but we’ll definitely need to clean those.

[pixy0stix]

Jun 7, 2023 8:16:15 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Can someone explain what AQI means? I'm in Boston and it looks much better today (they said on the news the smoke is moving west of us). But the AQI in my weather app is around 80 and says it is worse than yesterday. I didn't check the number yesterday but we had orange skies/sun and it looks much better today. I'm so confused! Is in the 80s bad like we shouldn't be going outside? I turned on our AC to circulate and filter the air and all our windows are closed already since its been cool again.

Velar Fricative , agreed. I never remember thinking about this in NE before the past few years.

What do you need explained beyond what you can find in a google search? In general, that'll give you general guidelines on what is ok and isn't at various points.

[cattledogkisses]

Here's an interactive air quality map. fire.airnow.gov/#

I was puzzled about how we were being spared when the rest of the east coast is having terrible conditions, but it looks like the low pressure system that's giving us our 6th straight day of chilly rain is keeping the smoke at bay. Silver lining, I guess.

[pixy0stix]

Jun 7, 2023 8:19:05 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

People in suburban Philly (and south Jersey I hear) have been calling 911 to report smoke smell.

It's just mind boggling how many people don't watch the news.

[pixy0stix]

If anyone wants a good air quality ap - I've used PurpleAir for years now. In general it gives me a better air quality reading than the weather aps.

[noodleoo]

Jun 7, 2023 8:32:16 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Jun 7, 2023 8:16:15 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Can someone explain what AQI means? I'm in Boston and it looks much better today (they said on the news the smoke is moving west of us). But the AQI in my weather app is around 80 and says it is worse than yesterday. I didn't check the number yesterday but we had orange skies/sun and it looks much better today. I'm so confused! Is in the 80s bad like we shouldn't be going outside? I turned on our AC to circulate and filter the air and all our windows are closed already since its been cool again.

Velar Fricative , agreed. I never remember thinking about this in NE before the past few years.

What do you need explained beyond what you can find in a google search? In general, that'll give you general guidelines on what is ok and isn't at various points.

I was confused because another poster mentioned their air quality was 11 and that seemed really bad.

But nevermind.

[wildrice]

The weather has been mild here in the Baltimore/DC area and I haven't smelled smoke, but based on what others are saying I just shut our windows. The sky does look both overcast and sunny at the same time, so I guess maybe it's not actually overcast?

[pixy0stix]

Jun 7, 2023 8:37:11 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Jun 7, 2023 8:32:16 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

What do you need explained beyond what you can find in a google search? In general, that'll give you general guidelines on what is ok and isn't at various points.

I was confused because another poster mentioned their air quality was 11 and that seemed really bad.

But nevermind.

Yeah, I'm guessing that is a typo OR a different Canadian measurement. aprilsails - could you clarify?

[msmerymac]

Jun 7, 2023 8:01:17 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I'm more baffled by how this is the first time in my lifetime that I've experienced this. It's not like the Eastern part of the continent doesn't have forests, or dry weather, or stupid humans. Yes, weather patterns are playing a role here and the winds just blow how they blow but have we really been that lucky that the wind never blew this much wildfire smoke this way until now? I know western smoke has made its way here but still, I'm just shocked that this hasn't happened here more often (but I know it will).

There's a phenomenon, at least down near me, where they expect we could have "dry thunderstorms" with pinpoint lightening strikes with no actual rainfall, which is obviously a perfect situation for fires, in addition to the wind and stuff. The National Weather Service says this is a first for this area. No record of it happening before. 

I feel like I'm still in California with these "fire weather" warnings!

[heygrey]

Jun 7, 2023 8:42:44 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Jun 7, 2023 8:37:11 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

I was confused because another poster mentioned their air quality was 11 and that seemed really bad.

But nevermind.

Yeah, I'm guessing that is a typo OR a different Canadian measurement. aprilsails - could you clarify?

Canadians measure differently. I couldn’t tell you the exact differences because it’s like Celsius and Fahrenheit, I can just live in both worlds depending on the country I live in.

[aprilsails]

Jun 7, 2023 8:42:44 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Jun 7, 2023 8:37:11 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

I was confused because another poster mentioned their air quality was 11 and that seemed really bad.

But nevermind.

Yeah, I'm guessing that is a typo OR a different Canadian measurement. aprilsails - could you clarify?

I apologize. This is a metric from Environment Canada that is an Air Quality Health Index on a scale from 0-10 and yesterday we were at 11. We are currently at 10.
weather.gc.ca/airquality/pages/onaq-008_e.html

According to Purple Air our current AQI is 257. If you go outside it feels like you are standing directly beside a bonfire in the smoke. Everywhere.

[karinothing]

Yeah it is pretty bad in the DC area. The purpleair app pixy0stix, mention says the AQI is 198. We had to cancel all our outdoor activities at school for today and tomorrow.

[mala]

Jun 7, 2023 8:42:17 GMT -5 wildrice said:

The weather has been mild here in the Baltimore/DC area and I haven't smelled smoke, but based on what others are saying I just shut our windows. The sky does look both overcast and sunny at the same time, so I guess maybe it's not actually overcast?

Not overcast, smoke & haze.


Predictions have it getting worse in MD over the next few days, at least according to the map I'm looking at.

EDIT to add the link I've been watching: firesmoke.ca/forecasts/current/

[msmerymac]

Jun 7, 2023 9:02:46 GMT -5 aprilsails said:

Jun 7, 2023 8:42:44 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Yeah, I'm guessing that is a typo OR a different Canadian measurement. aprilsails - could you clarify?

I apologize. This is a metric from Environment Canada that is an Air Quality Health Index on a scale from 0-10 and yesterday we were at 11. We are currently at 10.
weather.gc.ca/airquality/pages/onaq-008_e.html

According to Purple Air our current AQI is 257. If you go outside it feels like you are standing directly beside a bonfire in the smoke. Everywhere.

[InBetweenDays]

Jun 6, 2023 22:55:38 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

I'm sorry you are facing this. A few years ago, I thought this sort of air might drive us out of CA. Now it's clear none of the country is immune.

H and I said the same thing last year about Western Washington. Our area is fairly climate resilient from a water standpoint. But I wasn't sure i could stay long term if we have the awful smoke each summer like we've been having.

For those using Purple Air make sure you apply the US EPA or LRAPA conversion. Purple Air is more localized and current than AirNow, but without the conversation it's not as accurate when air pollution is primarily wood smoke.

thebolditalic.com/understanding-purpleair-vs-airnow-gov-measurements-of-wood-smoke-pollution-562923a55226

[heygrey]

My SIL was evacuated for the better part of a week because of a fire that destroyed 150+ homes in suburban Halifax, Nova Scotia. They live on a lake and just a few kilometres from the ocean. Halifax is one of the most humid environments I have ever experienced, and yet fires are bigger than that this year.

I would highly suggest to east coast friends that you plan for a 5 minute evacuation. Most of you have never experienced weather that doesn’t come with days of lead time to prepare, but when a wildfire starts sometimes you literally flee with the clothes on your body.

I experienced an immediate evacuation in 2012 and we had the clothes we were wearing, our fire safe because it’s always relocated to a spot near our front door during peak fire months, my purse, and h’s wallet/keys.

I have also experienced evacuations where we had a couple hours, but those are still frantic because we’re constantly waiting to be told it’s go time. Every spring, I make papers with various levels of packing lists so I don’t have to think. Stuff we take immediately, stuff we take if we have more time to prepare.

[bronxgirl]

Jun 7, 2023 9:30:28 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Jun 7, 2023 9:02:46 GMT -5 aprilsails said:

I apologize. This is a metric from Environment Canada that is an Air Quality Health Index on a scale from 0-10 and yesterday we were at 11. We are currently at 10.
weather.gc.ca/airquality/pages/onaq-008_e.html

According to Purple Air our current AQI is 257. If you go outside it feels like you are standing directly beside a bonfire in the smoke. Everywhere.

Yup, that's all I could think about. Spinal Tap will always be relevant.

We were outdoors last evening and I smelled smoke and assumed it was from the wildfires and getting worse in our area, but then i saw a bunch of firetrucks so maybe there was a local fire. 

[loira]

We're currently holidaying in an area of my province that would normally be very smoky but I guess the winds are just blowing in a different direction. Our cabin is in a mountain valley and when we were here 3 years ago the smoke was so bad we wore masks outside and we couldn't even see the mountains that are right there!

[audette]

Jun 7, 2023 8:16:15 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Can someone explain what AQI means? I'm in Boston and it looks much better today (they said on the news the smoke is moving west of us). But the AQI in my weather app is around 80 and says it is worse than yesterday. I didn't check the number yesterday but we had orange skies/sun and it looks much better today. I'm so confused! Is in the 80s bad like we shouldn't be going outside? I turned on our AC to circulate and filter the air and all our windows are closed already since its been cool again.

Velar Fricative , agreed. I never remember thinking about this in NE before the past few years.

www.airnow.gov/aqi/aqi-basics/

80 is moderate.  Not horrible, but noticeable.

[InBetweenDays]

Jun 7, 2023 8:16:15 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Can someone explain what AQI means? I'm in Boston and it looks much better today (they said on the news the smoke is moving west of us). But the AQI in my weather app is around 80 and says it is worse than yesterday. I didn't check the number yesterday but we had orange skies/sun and it looks much better today. I'm so confused! Is in the 80s bad like we shouldn't be going outside? I turned on our AC to circulate and filter the air and all our windows are closed already since its been cool again.

Velar Fricative , agreed. I never remember thinking about this in NE before the past few years.

@@@@

Just for a point a reference, our outdoor organized sports (rec, travel, and school sports) cancel all outdoor games and practices if the AQI is over 150. Below that is up to the coaches and families, but the leagues make the call if it goes above 150.

[sonrisa]

Jun 7, 2023 11:17:22 GMT -5 audette said:

Jun 7, 2023 8:16:15 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Can someone explain what AQI means? I'm in Boston and it looks much better today (they said on the news the smoke is moving west of us). But the AQI in my weather app is around 80 and says it is worse than yesterday. I didn't check the number yesterday but we had orange skies/sun and it looks much better today. I'm so confused! Is in the 80s bad like we shouldn't be going outside? I turned on our AC to circulate and filter the air and all our windows are closed already since its been cool again.

Orange skies can mean the worst air is up high, not down where you are breathing it. So you might have more clear light with worse functional air quality. 100 is when I start to moderate our activities. 150 is when the schools and sports do. The window between 100-150 is where we end up missing a lot (otherwise we all get adverse health effects).

(I meant to quote only noodleoo , but can't seem to fix it. lol)

[chickadee77]

Jun 7, 2023 9:02:46 GMT -5 aprilsails said:

Jun 7, 2023 8:42:44 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Yeah, I'm guessing that is a typo OR a different Canadian measurement. aprilsails - could you clarify?

I apologize. This is a metric from Environment Canada that is an Air Quality Health Index on a scale from 0-10 and yesterday we were at 11. We are currently at 10.
weather.gc.ca/airquality/pages/onaq-008_e.html

According to Purple Air our current AQI is 257. If you go outside it feels like you are standing directly beside a bonfire in the smoke. Everywhere.

It was the same over our way yesterday (NW Ontario). Today seems better, and a little rain.

[karinothing]

Jun 7, 2023 11:23:56 GMT -5 InBetweenDays said:

Jun 7, 2023 8:16:15 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Can someone explain what AQI means? I'm in Boston and it looks much better today (they said on the news the smoke is moving west of us). But the AQI in my weather app is around 80 and says it is worse than yesterday. I didn't check the number yesterday but we had orange skies/sun and it looks much better today. I'm so confused! Is in the 80s bad like we shouldn't be going outside? I turned on our AC to circulate and filter the air and all our windows are closed already since its been cool again.

Velar Fricative , agreed. I never remember thinking about this in NE before the past few years.

Just for a point a reference, our outdoor organized sports (rec, travel, and school sports) cancel all outdoor games and practices if the AQI is over 150. Below that is up to the coaches and families, but the leagues make the call if it goes above 150.

@@@

All Fields were just closed in our county.

[InBetweenDays]

Jun 7, 2023 11:32:29 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Jun 7, 2023 11:23:56 GMT -5 InBetweenDays said:

Just for a point a reference, our outdoor organized sports (rec, travel, and school sports) cancel all outdoor games and practices if the AQI is over 150. Below that is up to the coaches and families, but the leagues make the call if it goes above 150.

All Fields were just closed in our county.

@@@@

I'm sorry. We know that all too well (had 4 weekends of games cancelled last fall). Having smoke like that is such an apocalyptic and claustrophobic feeling. I hope they're able to get the fires under control and everyone gets some rain and clear air soon.

[1confused1]

Jun 7, 2023 7:46:28 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I'm struggling with how the news and social media suddenly seem to care. Y'all, how do you think people in the west feel 6 months out of the year? Can we now give a shit and stop our climate killing ways? (All this is general and not meant specifically for anyone here.)

This is EXACTLY how I feel.

[msmerymac]

So this is an @@@ thread now?

[pixy0stix]

c'mon people.

[kath16]

Jun 7, 2023 8:47:56 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Jun 7, 2023 8:01:17 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I'm more baffled by how this is the first time in my lifetime that I've experienced this. It's not like the Eastern part of the continent doesn't have forests, or dry weather, or stupid humans. Yes, weather patterns are playing a role here and the winds just blow how they blow but have we really been that lucky that the wind never blew this much wildfire smoke this way until now? I know western smoke has made its way here but still, I'm just shocked that this hasn't happened here more often (but I know it will).

There's a phenomenon, at least down near me, where they expect we could have "dry thunderstorms" with pinpoint lightening strikes with no actual rainfall, which is obviously a perfect situation for fires, in addition to the wind and stuff. The National Weather Service says this is a first for this area. No record of it happening before. 

I feel like I'm still in California with these "fire weather" warnings!

are you in MontCo? bc i am too and havent heard this yet so... cool cool cool cool cool cool cool... 

[macmars45]

Jun 7, 2023 7:43:33 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Jun 7, 2023 7:38:09 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I know anything besides masks with actual respirators won't do jack shit but I did feel better wearing a mask (well, two) when I had to be outside briefly, even if it was just a placebo effect.

N95s help and I'm guessing people have a few of those around.

My H got a smoke mask (not the technical name) he wears to run errands and mow the lawn when we get smoke for months in late summer & early fall. It has filters you change out and such.