Air Quality Alert Issued For Upstate New York Due To Wild Fires

The NYS DEC has issued an alert for much of the Capital Region and a majority of Upstate New York.

With wild fires spreading across New York and New Jersey the Department of Environmental Conservation has officially issued an air quality alert. While we haven't seen wildfires directly here in the Albany area, the affected areas are impacting the air quality around our areas.

From the NWS:

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation at Albany has issued a Air Quality Health Advisory for Fine Particulates...until midnight tonight.

Air quality levels in outdoor air are predicted to be greater than an air quality index value of 100 for Fine Particulates. The air quality index...or AQI...was created as an easy way to correlate levels of different pollutants to one scale. The higher the AQI value, the greater the health concern.

If you step outside in the City of Albany there is a haze all around and the faint smell of smoke in the air. The windy and dry conditions are what are causing the fires to spread, and the Capital Region is also under an advisory that fires could easily spread today.

The risk of fire spreading is in affect until 6pm Sunday night. The air quality warning is in affect until midnight Sunday.

If you are at high risk of have breathing issues you may have more trouble today, so try not to spend too much time outdoors if you can.

This affects everywhere from the Hudson Valley to Glens Falls. It stretches out into the Mohawk Valley as well.