Western New York, along with the rest of the state, is once again dealing with poor air quality from northern Canadian wildfires.
The air quality index of particulate matter 2.5 was forecasted on Wednesday at 195 by the Department of Environmental Conservation, creating a visible haze throughout Buffalo and surrounding areas. That's considered in the "unhealthy" range, impacting older adults and those with chronic respiratory illnesses the most.
"This will likely be a prolonged event, and we might see even worse air quality tomorrow," said DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton. "So please take precautions. Please be air quality aware."
What does such an abundance of tiny particles in the air mean for your health?
"These particles when they get into our system, get all the way down into our lungs, all the way down into our tiny breathing tubes, and even up next to our microscopic balloons, the alveoli where we breathe and they can cause inflammation," said New York Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald. "When they cause inflammation, that can make the individuals have asthma get into an asthma attack, and other people have heart disease and lung disease have trouble with their underlying disease."
AccuWeather is forecasting PM 2.5 levels to hit "dangerous" levels in and around Buffalo by 11 p.m. Wednesday.
"You're going to be better off inside on days like today, and particularly tomorrow, where tomorrow might even be worse," said McDonald. "I think it's important that if you don't have air conditioning, to see if you can get to a place with air conditioning. Sometimes if you don't have air conditioning, you open your windows maybe to let a breeze in, but when the when the weather is not good like this and the air quality isn't good, you don't want to keep your windows open to let the adverse air quality in your home."
McDonald said particle readings that get around 200 can cause issues for everyone of all ages and conditions.
"That means if you're going to go outside, we encourage you not to do strenuous activity and to be very careful about being outside for prolonged period of time," he said.
State officials said they don't believe air quality issues from the wildfire season will be as severe as June of 2023, but they will continue to monitor and provide updates.
