Smokey Sunsets Above New York Depart as Winds From Canada Shift

(Bloomberg) -- Smoke from Alberta wildfires will no longer cause dazzling sunsets in New York and the mid-Atlantic, as winds shift and the haze stays farther north for now.

The sparkling sunsets have been driven by haze from forest fires that have been raging for days thousands of miles away in the Canadian province, said Brian Hurley, a senior branch forecaster at the U.S. Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. Upper atmospheric winds that were sending the smoke south have shifted and it will now be pushed north and east, perhaps clipping Maine and more likely just heading back to Canada.

“On Monday, if you looked at our flow at 25,000 to 30,000 feet was coming directly from Alberta,” Hurley said by telephone. “That is why the sunsets were brilliant.”

Earlier this week, prices for Canadian heavy oil in Alberta surged the most since January after fires forced at least three producers in the region to shut in some production. The smoke has also caused air-quality issues in Calgary.

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