The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has expanded the Code RED Air Quality Alert to cover all of Central Pennsylvania, including the Susquehanna Valley, through 8 AM Thursday.
Poor air quality may linger through the day Thursday as light wind
and limited vertical mixing of the smoke occurs.
Air quality conditions degraded overnight as more smoke from the wildfires pushed into Pennsylvania from the Great Lakes region. The average Air Quality Index readings for the entire day will likely be in the Code Red range, however local conditions could be worse throughout the day.
Inn a Code Red Air Quality Action Day, young children, the elderly, and those with respiratory problems, such as asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis, are especially vulnerable to the effects of air pollution and should avoid outdoor activities, and everyone else should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion.
Concentrations of smoke will likely be high throughout the day in western Pennsylvania and increasing throughout the day in eastern Pennsylvania.
Members of
sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects. Sensitive
groups include people with heart or lung disease, older adults,
children and teenagers, and outdoor workers.
This alert includes the following counties in Pennsylvania:
- Adams
- Bedford
- Blair
- Cambria
- Cameron
- Centre
- Clearfield
- Clinton
- Columbia
- Cumberland
- Dauphin
- Elk
- Franklin
- Fulton
- Huntingdon
- Juniata
- Lancaster
- Lebanon
- Lycoming
- McKean
- Mifflin
- Montour
- Northumberland
- Perry
- Potter
- Schuylkill
- Snyder
- Somerset
- Sullivan
- Tioga
- Union
- Warren
- York