What to know
- Toronto woke up to smoky skies as wildfire smoke from Northern Ontario triggered a high-risk air quality warning.
- Ontario is battling 180+ active wildland fires, with smoke reducing visibility and pushing Toronto’s air quality among the worst in the world on Wednesday morning.
- Dramatic images and videos shared online show orange skies, thick smoke and wildfire impacts across several northern Ontario communities and First Nations.
- Forecasters expect air quality to gradually improve later this week as weather systems move through southern Ontario, though conditions remain dependent on shifting winds.
People in Toronto woke up to a hazy sky and air that smells smoky thanks to a series of blazes in Northern Ontario.
Wildfire season is upon us, Ontario, lasting from April 1 until Oct. 31, and Toronto is feeling the effects. Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued a yellow air quality warning for Toronto, forecasting the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) to reach a level seven on Wednesday after conditions deteriorated overnight, leaving Toronto in the high-risk category. While current readings fluctuate throughout the day, Environment Canada warns air quality could worsen before improving later this week.
Ontario officials report there are currently 37 active wildland fires in the Northeast Region, and 148 in the Northwest Region. The poor air quality comes as Toronto is also under a heat warning, creating a dangerous combination of high temperatures, humidity and wildfire smoke. Early Wednesday morning, Toronto briefly ranked among the cities with the worst air quality in the world.
These fires have led to dramatic videos and imagery flooding social media feeds, showing skies in every shade of orange and yellow, trees and other vegetation singed, and air thick with smoke in northern areas like the smaller Ontario communities of Armstrong, Cushing Lake, Ignace, and Crystal Lake, as well as the Collins, Whitesand, and Lac des Mille Lacs First Nations.
The smoke is expected to gradually improve as we get closer to the end of the week, with weather systems moving through southern Ontario; however, forecasts remain subject to changing wind patterns.
Meanwhile, the smoke is also making it south of the border, with social media users sharing images from places like Michigan and Northern Virginia.
