Smoke from Canadian wildfires made Monday an air quality action day in the First State, but it’s not expected to last too long.
The wildfire smoke made Monday an orange alert day according to DNREC, meaning people in sensitive groups may experience health effects.
Those groups include people with lung disease such as asthma, older adults, children and teenagers and people active outdoors. They were told to limit outdoor activities and take more breaks.
National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Lee explains the conditions contributing to air quality.
"The high pressure is great when the air is nice, and it doesn't move anywhere,” said Lee. “There's not a lot of wind but that also gets into, you know, a double edged sword there, because when we do end up with wildfire smoke, we do end up with ozone issues the air becomes a little bit more stagnant, and the high pressure kind of helps keep it in place."
DNREC forecasts a yellow alert day or moderate as increasing clouds are expected to limit ozone production.
The yellow alert means there may be a risk for some people, mainly for those who are unusually sensitive to air pollution otherwise air quality is acceptable.
Lee says the conditions will be slightly better Tuesday.
"High pressure will still be in place for the most part, and we may see a few showers developing on Wednesday. But for Tuesday, there is a chance and possibility that we can see some of the hazy skies stick around for another day before things start to move on," said Lee.
The temperature and periods of sunshine will promote some ozone development Tuesday according to DNREC, but the chance of scattered showers Wednesday will reduce ozone production in the state.
