As dozens of wildfires blaze through Ontario’s woodlands, billowing smoke high into the atmosphere, wind patterns are ushering the fumes southward to Central Indiana.
Hoosiers should expect hazy skies, small temperature fluctuations on July 14 and, maybe, an unusually electric sunset.
Heat from these fires pushes smoke high into the atmosphere, where it gets blown far and wide. This week, jet streams have carried smoke clockwise around the Great Lakes, bringing the haze from Ontario all the way to Indiana more than 600 miles away.
Smoky skies will begin to obscure the Central Indiana horizon this afternoon, but the haze probably won’t last long, clearing in a day or two, said Aaron Updike, a lead meteorologist at the Indianapolis National Weather Service office.
Still, he said, Hoosiers should stay alert for new developments and advisories: Lightning strikes in Ontario’s dry, blistering forests have contributed to the growing swaths of red across the region’s wildfire map. Several communities in northwest Ontario face mandatory evacuation orders.
Often, when wildfire smoke settles over a region, the air is riddled with particulate matter – minuscule contaminants that can infiltrate and damage the human respiratory system. But Updike said this specific smoke show isn’t likely to hinder local air quality as it sits too high up in the atmosphere.
That said, Indianapolis is facing unrelated air quality issues this week.
As sweltering temperatures and sunny skies linger over Marion County, hazardous levels of ground-level ozone prompted the city of Indianapolis to issue an air quality advisory for vulnerable Hoosiers on July 15. The city’s Office of Sustainability encourages members of sensitive groups to stay indoors as much as possible.
The Canadian wildfire smoke, on the other hand, only has a few local impacts, said Updike. Because particulate matter inside the haze can scatter and refract sunlight, the smoky sky might tamp down otherwise soaring temperatures. It could also dial up the Central Indiana sunset.
“Our sunsets might be a little bit more vibrant and our afternoon temperatures might be a little bit cooler than originally expected, by like a degree or two,” Updike said.
IndyStar’s environmental reporting is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
Sophie Hartley is an IndyStar environment reporter. You can reach her at sophie.hartley@indystar.com or on X at @sophienhartley.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Smoke from Canadian wildfires descends on Indiana, bringing hazy skies
Reporting by Sophie Hartley, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Sophie Hartley, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
