West Coast Wildfires Causing “Smoky Skies” As Far East As New York City

Just days ago, we posted photographs of just how stunning the effects of the California wildfires had gotten on the west coast. The photos showed bright orange skies, painting a scene that looked more suited for Mars than the United States. 

Now the effects of the wildfires are becoming so profound they can be seen all the way across the country in New York City. Photos posted yesterday to Gothamist show “advancing plumes of smoke” as a result of the wildfires. They have turned the skies smokier looking than usual.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that smoke from the fires moved east this week and meteorologists expect that the effects will be even worse throughout the week, until dissipating on Friday due to an incoming cold front. 

The smoke is traveling between 15,000 and 20,000 feet overhead, according to New York Metro Weather. This means that ground-level area shouldn’t be impacted. The NWS has said there could be a “yellow or brown tinge” to the sky. 

That’s exactly what it is! In fact, smoke is expected to be even more noticeable tomorrow. You can see the smoke on satellite —> pic.twitter.com/73erjttVXN

— New York Metro Weather (@nymetrowx) September 14, 2020

Recall, eerie, dark orange clouds enveloped San Francisco and the Bay Area last week as a result of nearby wildfire smoke entering the atmosphere. Stunning photos were posted by SF Gate last Wednesday showing what looks like a Martian sky, which was yellow on Tuesday, but darkened in color overnight to orange as a result of smoke being pushed inland off the Pacific Ocean. 

According to the, at 10:45 AM local time, “it looked as if it were dawn”.

UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said on Twitter: “Extremely dense & tall smoke plumes from numerous large wildfires, some of which have been generating nocturnal pyrocumulunimbus clouds (‘fire thunderstorms), are almost completely blocking out the sun across some portions of Northern California this morning.”