NASA: Quebec Fires Deliver One of the Most Intense Outbreaks if Smoke in the Eastern U.S. in Decades
“Wildfire smoke from Canada has passed over the northeastern United States multiple times each summer in recent years, but it often goes unnoticed because it is relatively high in the atmosphere. That isn't the case in June 2023. In the first week of the month, large amounts of smoke from fires in Quebec poured south into the eastern U.S. and degraded the quality of surface-level air that tens of millions of people breathe.
Winds typically move smoke from fires in Quebec toward the east and out to sea. But in June 2023, a persistent coastal low centered near Prince Edward Island instead steered smoke south into the United States. This image, from the GOES-16 weather satellite shows smoke sweeping into New York and Pennsylvania on the morning of June 7, 2023.”
Several NASA satellites are collecting data throughout the event. The Terra, Aqua, and Aura satellites are observing how smoke particles affect how the atmosphere absorbs and reflects light, while the CALIPSO satellite collects observations of smoke height. Meanwhile, data from NASA’s ground-based Micro-Pulse Lidar Network and Aerosol Robotic Network indicate that a significant amount of smoke is present near the surface.
Learn More: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/151433/smoke-smothers-the-northeast