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New York City’s air quality was the worst since at least the 1980s Wednesday afternoon, as thick wildfire smoke blowing down from Canada dimmed the city into an orange haze.
“It looks like Mars out there,” said Fox Forecast Center meteorologist Brian Mastro just before 2 p.m.
The city’s air quality index had risen to 353 out of 500 by early afternoon, which is considered “very hazardous” and was the worst recorded since at least the ’80s, he explained.
Around 2:30 p.m., the air quality ranking site IQair.com ranked the city’s air quality index as 80% worse than the second-most polluted major world city, Delhi, India.
On a normal day in New York, the air index is less than 50, according to Mastro.
The air quality index was even worse than after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but fortunately, the air from more than 100 out-of-control wildfires hundreds of miles to the north was not as toxic as the debris cloud from the terror attack, said Mastro.
“That was not as widespread, because it came from Lower Manhattan and the wind was blowing it to the south, over Brooklyn, so there wasn’t really anything over the northern parts of Manhattan or anything. Whereas, this is the whole city,” Mastro explained.
Everything you need to know about the NYC wildfire smoke
New York City’s air has been heavily polluted by thick smoke from Canadian wildfires burning hundreds of miles away.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams warned residents to stay inside to avoid exposure.
The haze wafting in from Quebec poses a threat “even to healthy adults.”
New York’s air quality has become some of the worst in the world as the ominous orange smog from wildfires near Quebec, British Columbia and Nova Scotia continues to settle over the region, according to IQair.
The air quality is expected to remain hazardous through the weekend.
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“The good news is this is basically the worst it’s going to get between now and the next couple of hours,” Mastro said.
“As we get later into tonight, it’s going to start to calm down a little bit, but we still could have a little bit of smoke hanging around tomorrow and Friday, but nowhere near what we have today,” Mastro said.
The forecaster echoed doctors and Mayor Eric Adams, who advised even healthy New Yorkers to stay inside until the smoke dissipated.
When asked if he had any other comment, Mastro responded: “It’s wild, it’s orange outside, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
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