N.Y. air quality moderate Wednesday after advisory Tuesday; Due to wildfires in Western U.S., southern Canada

CAPITAL REGION – Tuesday’s skyward haze was the result of enormous wildfires that continue to burn in several Western states and southern Canada, resulting in air quality health advisories in all corners of New York.

Winds carried the smoke into New York.

“Smoke originating from fires out West is in our area, and it’s causing the milky appearance in the sky and some slightly reduced visibility as well,” said Dan Thompson of the National Weather Service.

It was noticeable as early as Monday evening and grew thicker Tuesday morning, Thompson said.

Rain and thunderstorms forecasted for Tuesday evening may help exhaust some of the smoke, Thompson said.

By Wednesday, the smoke is not expected to be as thick as it was Tuesday, he said.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued an air quality health advisory for New York because the particulates in the air can be hazardous for people who have trouble breathing due to respiratory issues.

The alert was in place until midnight Tuesday.

Air quality in the Capital Region remained listed as moderate Wednesday.

The New York State Mesonet at the University at Albany, a weather network, said on social media that its profiler sites “are nicely capturing wildfire smoke” in the state. A smoke model suggested smoke was present at 1,000 and 6,000 feet at that same time.

The Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail in Schenectady’s Goose Hill was sparsely populated late Tuesday afternoon, except for a woman who walked two dogs.

The trail user said she wasn’t aware of the statewide alert, but she had noticed that the air was “quite thick.” She declined to provide her name.

Correction 6:39 a.m. 7/21: An earlier version of this story incorrectly indicated the end of the advisory. It expired Tuesday night at midnight.