New York could be cloaked with a second wave of thick orange smoke Thursday, as hundreds of out-of-control wildfires ravage parts of Canada.
The smog may make a return Thursday into Friday in the Big Apple, as well as other parts of the East Coast, meteorologists said — but it won’t be as bad as the apocalyptic scenes of last week.
“The big takeaway is that it will be nowhere near as bad,” Fox Forecast Center Meteorologist Brian Mastro told The Post Thursday.
“Air quality will still worsen a little bit. But last week, we reached low into the four hundreds got into the hazardous levels of air quality was the worst air quality in New York City’s history. We won’t be getting that again,” he added.
“We’re not going to see the apocalyptic, orange sky.”
New York City experienced its worst Air Quality Index (AQI) rating on record last Wednesday as winds pushed heavy wildfire smoke south, blanketing the city in a dystopian orange smog.
Parts of the region reached “very unhealthy” levels, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s index.
At its peak in the afternoon, the AQI for the city reached 405 out of 500 — far worse than New Delhi’s 190, and the normal index of 100 for New York.
Forecasters say the smoke haze could hand around through Friday.
“We could still see some haze returning tomorrow. And we could still see air quality worse a little bit, but not to the hazardous levels — just potentially to the unhealthy levels,” Mastro said.
Some precautions may be necessary for some New Yorkers, especially those in at-risk health groups, the meteorologist added.
Scattered showers are expected to hit the tri-state area Saturday before clearing for Father’s Day on Sunday, which is expected to be warmer and partially cloudy.
Threats of a smokey haze persist as Canada continues to have one of its worst wildfire seasons, with more than 400 fires pushing smoke south and into the US, creating major air quality concerns.
Extreme wildfire activity, with over half of the fires considered out of control, will continue to push the thick smog into the northern portion of the US Thursday before the weather pattern takes a turn to head southeast.
Satellite images shared on Twitter by Fox 5 Evening Meteorologist Mike Thomas show the smoke will likely enter through the Midwest Thursday morning before swooping down and heading toward the South and East Coast later Thursday through Friday.
As the smoke leaves the Dakotas and Minnesota on Thursday, Fox forecasters say it may swing back and enter the Great Lakes and Northeast regions by Friday.
