Smoke from Canada wildfires blanket US from Great Lakes to East, resulting in dangerous air quality

Conditions are expected to last at least through Saturday, when a forecasted thunderstorm could clear the smoke from the skies.

Published: July 17, 2026 12:06pm

Updated: July 17, 2026 12:23pm

Smoke from Canadian wildfires poured into the United States on Friday morning, resulting in dangerous air quality for an estimated 100 million people in the country. 

The smoke has seeped into the Great Lakes, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, with the air quality in Washington, D.C., tagged Code Purple, the second-worst on the U.S. Air Quality Index and considered "very unhealthy."

Conditions are expected to last at least through Saturday, when forecasted thunderstorms could clear the smoke from the skies.

 

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