Bucks County faces unhealthy air quality from Canadian wildfires

☁️ Air quality levels are at unhealthy levels on Sunday in Bucks County

☁️ Wildfires in the Canadian Provinces are to blame

☁️ Particles known as PM2.5 exacerbate asthma and other respiratory issues

Air quality for much of Bucks County and southern New Jersey counties was considered at unhealthy levels  for a second day on Sunday.

A loop of air quality measurements by Air Now, an EPA website, showed conditions deteriorated Saturday first on the Jersey Shore and then shifted westward creating a light haze.  Some reported a smell of smoke. Showers that moved through early Sunday morning helped to clear out some of the haze.

Areas in orange are unhealthy for members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. The general public is less likely to be affected. Red areas are unhealthy and may affect members of the general public.

There were some smaller areas measured showing in red showing an unhealthy on Sunday morning. The quality was forecast to improve during the day on Sunday.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection issued a Code Orange Air Quality Action Day until midnight.

Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow says there will be more showers and downpours on Sunday as the humidity increases to uncomfortable levels.

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Where in Canada are the wildfires?

The wildfires are burning in the Canadian Prairies of western Canada  A stagnant air mass contributed to the intensity of the smoke on Saturday, but improved air circulation is expected on Sunday, according to The Canadian Press.

Canada is facing another dangerous wildfire season, with burning forests sending smoke plumes across the provinces and into the U.S. again, according to Jun Wang of the University of Iowa. The pace of the 2025 fires is reminiscent of the record-breaking 2023 wildfire season, which exposed millions of people in North America to hazardous smoke levels.

The altitude of the smoke matters, according to Wang. If a plume is high in the atmosphere, it won’t affect the air people breathe – it simply floats by far overhead.

But when smoke plumes are close to the surface, people are breathing in wildfire chemicals and tiny particles. Those particles, known as PM2.5, can get deep into the lungs and exacerbate asthma and other respiratory and cardiac problems.

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