STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — New York City is under an air quality alert for the second day in a row.
The National Weather Service issued the alert for all five boroughs, warning that Air Quality Index values are forecast to exceed 100 for the pollutant ground-level ozone. This latest alert will remain in effect until 11 p.m. Thursday.
As explained by the National Weather Service, when pollution levels are elevated, the New York State Department of Health recommends reducing outdoor physical activity to prevent any adverse health effects.
At 2 p.m., the Air Quality Index value for ozone in the city was 112, according to AirNow; this is considered “unhealthy for sensitive groups.”
According to AirNow, those with lung disease, children, teens and older adults are advised to reduce exposure.
In addition to the ozone pollution, particle pollution is also impacting the city Thursday afternoon; AirNow reported that the Air Quality Index value for particle pollution was at 78 around 2 p.m.
On Wednesday, Tom Kines, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather told the Advance/SILive.com that he foresaw the city struggling with air quality issues through at least Thursday. However, he also suggested that the city could potentially continue to face these issues into Friday.
Those who look to the sky may notice a lingering haze caused, in part, by smoke from Canadian wildfires, however, that is not the major reason for the air quality alert, according to Kines. He previously clarified that the heat and lack of wind are responsible for the deterioration in air quality.
Kines also forecasted that a front will bring some showers and maybe even a thunderstorm this weekend which should help the air quality in its own right. Once the winds shift, that will help conditions in the short term as well before smoke potentially finds its way down into the city.
Those New York residents looking to remain up to date on the latest air quality conditions can reach the toll-free air quality hotline at 800-535-1345.
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