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(NEXSTAR) – Smoke from Canadian wildfires was parked over a large swath of the U.S. on Friday, bringing hazardous air quality from the border near Minnesota down to D.C. Millions of people living in areas with unhealthy and hazardous air have been told to stay inside as much as possible until the smoke clears.
The wildfire smoke is likely to linger for the next 24 to 48 hours for many, Nexstar meteorologist Blake Matthews said Friday morning, before storms and rain help clear up the air. Here’s where and when the smoke is expected to clear out this weekend. (You can also watch the full forecast in the video at the top of this story.)
Friday smoke forecast
Thick smoke is likely to hang around through Friday afternoon and evening from Minnesota down into Wisconsin and Michigan, over toward Chicago, through Pennsylvania and down into Virginia and D.C.
The densest smoke for Friday night was expected near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, as well as in parts of Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland, according to Matthews’ forecast.
Saturday smoke forecast
A trough of low pressure is expected to arrive Saturday, bringing relief for many (though it may be short-lived).
Showers and thunderstorms are in the forecast across New England and down into the mid-Atlantic, moving smoke out of the way.
“As we look ahead to Saturday morning, we’ll still see smoke, that smoke coming in across Buffalo into central Pennsylvania, and even as far south as Washington D.C., and over toward New York City, Connecticut and into Providence,” Matthews said.
The smoke is expected to “move up into Boston by Saturday afternoon and eventually up into Maine as we close out Saturday afternoon,” he continued. Saturday night’s air quality will be much better for most of the country, with the worst of it concentrated toward the U.S.-Canada border, closest to where the fires are burning.
Sunday smoke forecast
If the rain is successful at clearing out the smoke on Saturday, we could continue to reap the benefits on Sunday. However, there’s uncertainty on when the next wave of smoke will move in.
National Weather Service meteorologist Jake Petr said even if winds from the northwest clear skies, the smoky air could keep returning until the fires are out. That could take months, until it snows in Canada and northern Minnesota, officials have said.
It also remains unclear how much, if at all, the smoke will affect the World Cup final, slated to take place in New Jersey Sunday afternoon. Roughly 80,000 fans are expected at the game, which takes place at the Meadowlands, a large, open-air stadium that’s home to the NFL’s New York Giants and Jets.
“If the fire intensity really picks up again through (Saturday), it’s possible it puts more smoke into the atmosphere that then might quickly follow that rain event,” said Mark Parrington, senior scientist at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.
Parrington said, as a general rule, the advice is to try to minimize outdoor activity and outdoor exercise when the air is full of pollutants.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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