The devastating Canadian wildfires

The devastating Canadian wildfires

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My apologies to Canadians.

I have been aware of this but couldn’t extend my energy to even look at it until now.

Canada wildfires leads to air quality alerts in US, smoky haze witnessed in New York 

New York City Surges To Top Of World’s Most Polluted Cities List

US-CANADA-FIRES-SMOG

New York City has skyrocketed up a list of the world’s most polluted cities as smoke from Canadian wildfires hits the U.S., according to IQAir’s “live city ranking.”

The live ranking lists the air quality of the world’s major cities, with Delhi, India, in the top spot and New York City in second, according to a version of the webpage archived at the time of writing. Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Tuesday night that all outdoor school activities would be canceled Wednesday in response to the city reaching 218 on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index (AQI), The New York Times (NYT) reported. The city has had an AQI of roughly 50 in recent years, according to the outlet.

FAA Grounds All Flights At NYC’s LaGuardia Due To Canadian Wildfire Smoke As ‘Blade Runner-esque’ Scenes Blanket East Coast

Update (1543ET): 

FAA tweeted a major flight slowdown for East Coast airports amid visibility issues due to smoke.

*   *   *

Update (1510ET): 

Whoa.

*   *   *

Update (1345ET):

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, New York City’s LaGuardia Airport has grounded departures “due to low visibility” until 1400 EST.

Nearby Newark Liberty International Airport tweeted that “current smoke condition may impact your travel, please check with your airline to determine the status of your flight.”

Besides New York City area airports, ones in Philadelphia and across Baltimore–Washington metro area also experienced hazy conditions.

Samuel Ausby with the FAA Command Center tweeted, “Today we’re dealing with some smoke and haze in the northeast.”

“There are some fires in Canada that have been producing some smoke, due to the wind patterns it is now impacting the northeast of the US so from Boston, the NY metro area, Philadelphia and the DC metro area — are all experiencing some smoke that could impact travel through the airports,” he said. 

According to the flight-tracking website FlightAware, there have been 1,147 flights delayed and 73 canceled. Many of the flight disruptions are across the East Coast.

The smoky conditions across the Northeast are insane… It’s like Mars.

The Northeast looks like scenes from Blade Runner 2049.

Thanks, Canada.

*   *   *

Nearly 100 million people across 18 states, from New Hampshire to South Carolina, are under air quality alerts Wednesday morning, according to NBC News. A low-pressure system stuck off Nova Scotia is sending smoke from Canadian wildfires into the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast.

According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fires Centre, more than 400 wildfires are burning in Canada. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s radar-based analysis shows smoke from the wildfires pouring in from eastern Ontario and into the US.

On Tuesday night, New York City had the worst air pollution of any major city in the world, according to the IQAir website. Many other major US cities were blanketed in haze with air quality levels deemed “unhealthy.”

“EVERYONE should avoid the outdoors,” one meteorologist tweeted.

This morning, residents along the East Coast woke up to the following:

Richard Bann, a forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Center, told Bloomberg:

“Relief is not coming anytime soon.

“For the time being the Northeast US is in a position where it going to continue to ebb and flow with the thickness and intensity of the smoke.”

Meanwhile, NBC News is pushing masks: “If you need to spend time outside in smoke, a mask can help.”

Perhaps El Nino is to blame.

This was back on 9 May 

Wildfires In Canada Force 30,000 To Flee, Slash Oil And Gas Production

Canada’s top oil-producing province, Alberta, declared a state of emergency on Saturday as more than 100 wildfires raged across the region. 

On Monday, there were 100 wildfires, 29 of which were classified as out of control. Evacuation orders have been posted for 30,000 residents in the province. 

All Of South Quebec Simultaneously Erupted In Flames

And from Dutchsinse. They just can’t recognise that the climate IS warming

ALL of S. Quebec Canada just erupted into fires – Canada under attack? DEW or people?!

US Corn Crop Deteriorates After Midwest Hit By Worst Drought In Decades

Farmers in Corn Belt states have been very concerned about their crops this spring as drought expands across the Heartland.

The latest weekly report from the US Department of Agriculture shows the US corn crop deteriorated by the most in nearly three years as drought conditions worsened in the Midwest. 

About 64% of the nation’s corn crop was rated good-to-excellent in the weekly report, a five percentage-point plunge that was the most significant decline since August 2020. The drop was more than double of any analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. 

According to the US Drought Monitor, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin, often called the “Corn Belt” states, are experiencing “exceptional drought” to “moderate drought.” The timing of the drought, this early in the season, could stress young plants. 

“Soil moisture levels decreased sharply,” the USDA’s Indiana field office noted in the report. 

https://twitter.com/FearlessGrain/status/1665081279761489921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1665081279761489921%7Ctwgr%5Ee82910f779930c4ad3f755f4539fbd595b8c78a7%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fcommodities%2Fus-corn-crop-deteriorates-after-midwest-hit-worst-drought-decades

The drought, according to Newsweek, could be the worst in three decades “since the 1983–1985 North American drought.” 

It’s still uncertain whether the report will be sufficient to stabilize Corn futures.

And maybe the drought in Corn Belt states is being exacerbated by El Nino. 

We’ve explained to readers: “El Nino Watch Initiated As Ag-Industry In Crosshairs.” 

Drought tightens grip across Corn Belt – 34% now hit with drought

US corn belt hit by drought 34 percent corn damaged by drought
US corn belt hit by drought with 34 percent corn damaged by drought

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor paints two very different pictures across the country: A remarkable recovery in drought across the Plains versus declining conditions in the Midwest, as drought expands its grip and moves into the East. Farmers in Corn Belt states are concerned about the impact on crop conditions, especially in areas where the subsoil moisture has been depleted over the past year.

USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey, who helps author the drought monitor, says the changes in the map over the past four weeks show the story best, with some major improvements across the Plains and with deepening drought in the Midwest.

US drought monitor
US drought monitor

While several areas in the central Corn Belt are experiencing drought, the dryness has been parked in the western Corn Belt longer, Rippey says, which is a key factor when you consider soil moisture and now short-term dryness compounding with the longer-term drought situation.

“The drier areas west of the Mississippi include Nebraska and western Iowa; those areas have been dry much longer,” Rippey says. “You see a dry signal in those areas going back up to a year or more.”

Communities around Omaha and Lincoln, Neb., and into western Iowa, have been running out of water, which is a reflection of the longer-term drought picture.

“This spring, we have had short-term drought on top of that long-term drought, so we’re seeing a big array of problems, everything from browning pastures to stress on emerging summer crops,” Rippey says.

East of the Mississippi, in states such as Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, Rippey says farmers are seeing a short-term dry signal.

“We still have plenty of subsoil moisture. If we get the crops emerged and established, those roots should be able to reach down into that subsoil moisture. But for the time being, it’s extremely dry on the surface. Just a few weeks of dryness has depleted that upper level of soil moisture, which makes it tough to get the crop evenly emerged and established,” Rippey says. “If we can just get a little bit of rain in the next few weeks that should help the crops, and then get the crops into that deeper soil moisture.”

USDA shows 34% of the corn crop is currently in drought, and 28% of the soybean crop is experiencing drought conditions. With little to no rain in the forecast, it could impact crop conditions.

“Certainly in the short-term, we’ve got that blocking high in place over the Midwest up into eastern Canada, which is keeping the moisture out. We’ve seen a few showers break out west of the Mississippi, but at least for the next seven to 10 days it looks bone dry for the eastern Corn Belt. The flash drought will continue to evolve, likely making that transition from abnormal dryness into the lower drought categories over the next week or two unless we see an unexpected change.”

Corn Condition across US
Corn Condition across US

U.S. corn crop conditions are currently better than a year ago. USDA is now including condition ratings in its Crop Progress report, and the figures released by USDA-NASS on Tuesday showed 73% of the corn crop is rated good to excellent versus 69% the same time last year.

The Other Extreme

While shades of yellow and orange expand over the Corn Belt signaling drought is intensifying, areas in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas are seeing improvement. Some parts of Texas recorded the wettest May on record, which is prompting planting delays.

US drought monitor
drought change

“Some areas in the High Plains region, from southwestern Nebraska to Texas, picked up more than 10 inches of rain in a few locations,” Rippey says. “It was the wettest May on record. We went from D3 and D4 extremes to exceptional drought to flash flooding and planting delays in a period of three to four weeks, which is truly remarkable change,” he adds.

 

More rain is in the forecast for the southern Plains, which will further delay planting. [AG Web, JSOnline]

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One thought on “The devastating Canadian wildfires”

  1. Yep. There’s smoke in the air. It’s blowing from the West.
    Summer hasn’t even started. I’ve been watching. There are many fires in Russia too.

    Looking at projections of the jet stream/Total Precipitable Water. It’s swooping up to Alaska over the West, down from Northern Ontario to Illinois, then back up to Northern Quebec/Labrador or farther down to Florida and back up the East Coast.

    Rain is “avoiding” the fires. We’ve had a few rainy respites, but it’s like the RRR and California being dry. The area’s where there are fire’s, the rain is “avoiding.”

    Reply

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