LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — A layer of haze hung over the Susquehanna River on Thursday.
“A lot of times it gets like that when it’s real humid and hot, but yeah it’s the smoke, and it’s horrible!" said Mike Hoffmaster of Columbia, who was out walking his dog.
It was the perfect view of the impact Canadian wildfires are once again having on air quality in Pennsylvania, as well as many other parts of the United States.
The condition prompted another Code Red air quality alert from Pennsylvania's state Department of Environmental Protection on Thursday.
“I’m a little worried," said Chris Stetter of York. "I’m heading to North Dakota in a few weeks and the report I saw on the news the other day said Minnesota, North Dakota, states out that way are really bad.”
It didn’t seem to stop people from getting out and about in Lancaster County though.
“I have asthma so I don’t know, it doesn’t seem like it’s done anything but I also don’t work outside," Stetter continued. "I’m sure for people working outside that makes a big difference and is really hard.”
“It's really not that common to deal with in Pennsylvania, especially repeatedly like this," said Kyle Elliott of the smoky conditions.
Elliott is the director of Millersville University’s weather information center. He explains conditions in Canada continue to be ripe for wildfires.
“It’s been very dry and abnormally hot in Canada so despite the fact it’s been relatively cool here in June it’s been warmer than normal in Canada so with that jet stream dip across the eastern U.S., the storm track has been farther south," he said.
Elliott says if that lack of rain continues, we could see more days of poor air quality throughout the summer.
But for those worried about this upcoming holiday weekend, he has promising news.
“I think by Saturday and Sunday air quality is good or moderate, so I think most of Fourth of July weekend you’ll be able to go outside without a hitch," he said.
Download the FOX43 app here.