Why Have the Skies Been So Hazy Over New York State?

While the air remains dry across the Hudson Valley and New York state, you may wonder why the sky has a somewhat dull and hazy appearance to it?

Typically, this is something you'd see during the summer months, when humidity levels are very high. But according to ABC, the humidity was only around 30% Tuesday across the New York metro area. The answer actually lies thousands of miles away.

Why Are the Skies so Hazy Over the Northeast? 

CBS says that the hazy skies across the Northeast are actually from wildfires that are raging right now in northern Alberta. According to The New York Times, there are 88 active wildfires in Canada burning across nearly one million acres.as of Tuesday. The smoke is actually riding the current jetstream which takes it all the way to the Arctic before falling back down south over New York, according to CBS.

Smokey-looking, gray skies like these have become an every year occurrence over New York and the East Coast due to wildfire season in the western U.S. But normally, we don't start experiencing the haze from the wildfires until around September or so.

See Also: 16 New York Counties Already Record 26 Wildfires During Burn Ban

ABC says that most of the smoke will remain far up from the surface, so there shouldn't be an issue with air quality. What we could see over the next few days are some very colorful sunrises and sunsets

Forecasters say the haze and gray should be out of the area as we approach late-week. The Weather Channel says that increasing clouds could bring a chance for showers by Saturday afternoon.