Canadian wildfires impacting skies across Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. - You may wonder where the typically iridescent blue skies have gone and why they seem hazy. Giant wildfires spanning thousands of acres in eastern Canada are pushing out huge smoke plumes which are tracking south into the northeastern United States.

A big low-pressure center off of New England is helping to efficiently push that smoke southward all the way to Central Florida. The smoke may impact our air quality index (AQI) to a measurable degree but is unlikely to be thick enough to detect with your nose or feel in your lungs. 

Smoke can cause health problems close to its source as the tiny particles can venture deep into the lungs exacerbating existing pulmonary conditions like asthma and COPD, but overall we're too far away to catch the brunt of its most severe impacts. That said, the wind direction changes mid-week, pushing all that Canadian smoke back north, and clearing our skies.

One perk? Sunsets over our region may feature far more color than usual with deep red and even purple shades.