DAYTON — An air quality alert is in effect for the entire Valley until midnight Friday.
A stronger northly wind component will push Canadian wildfire smoke down into the Miami Valley. Smoke will be noticeable throughout the morning hours, but more so throughout the afternoon as the winds pick up speed. This will cause the AQI or air quality index to reach the unhealthy level. Causing hard breathing conditions for those with asthma or COPD. The best advice is to limit time outdoors in these conditions.
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Some mixing will take place allowing smoke to push closer to the surface. If and when this occurs, you will be able to smell the smoke. You’ll likely notice this through the afternoon and evening north of I70.
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Once the winds change direction and push more out of the southwest heading into Friday afternoon, the wildfire smoke will push eastward and out of the Miami Valley.
Wildfire smoke dramatically alters sunrises and sunset colors by scattering the shorter, blue wavelengths of sunlight. This process is called Mie scattering. This leaves longer, visible red and orange wavelengths to pass through, which creates an intensely deep red, orange, or “smoky sun” effect.