Smoke and hazy conditions have returned to western and northern parts of Virginia due to wildfires burning in Canada.
AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tom Kines said the entire state will likely be included Thursday with thicker smoke in the north part of the state.
“It won’t be surprising if there are air quality alerts tomorrow,” Kines said.
Waynesboro’s current air quality is an Orange Alert or unhealthy for sensitive groups, according to AirNow.
Much of the East Coast dealt with unhealthy air quality due to the wildfires three weeks ago with some areas seeing what could only be described as apocalyptic conditions.
The haze and smoke should gradually exit the state Friday and Saturday, Kines said.
Will the smoke return again? Kines said it’s challenging to make a prediction.
“Forecasting the movement of the smoke beyond a couple of days is difficult but it’s not out of the question the smoke returns next week some time,” Kines said.
In fact, he said, the smoke from the Canadian wildfires could be a problem all summer.
“This will be a record-breaking year regarding the number of acres burned in Canada,” he said.
The current weather pattern offers a little rain to parts of Canada where many of these fires are burning. However, the weekend and early next week look hot and dry for central and east central Canada which is “not good news,” according to Kines.
Many of these fires are in remote areas that make getting them under control difficult, and it appears Mother Nature is not cooperating by providing weather to extinguish the flames.
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Crystal Graham
