Air quality continues to pose a health concern in Massachusetts and Rhode Island as the Northeast is impacted by wildfire smoke from Canada, officials said Thursday.
Air quality alerts are in effect until Friday at midnight in parts of western and central Massachusetts and large portions of Rhode Island, according to the National Weather Service.
“Simulation of #smoke plume over Southern New England indicates some possible improvement today for much of the region, as smoke plume gets shunted southward,’’ forecasters posted on Twitter Thursday. “Smoke would then be focused along the south coast of MA, RI & CT. Nonetheless, Air Quality Alerts remain posted.”
[4 AM] Simulation of #smoke plume over Southern New England indicates some possible improvement today for much of the region, as smoke plume gets shunted southward. Smoke would then be focused along the south coast of MA, RI & CT. Nonetheless, Air Quality Alerts remain posted. pic.twitter.com/d1M00CGlwH
— NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) June 8, 2023
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, which operates air quality monitoring stations statewide, said that the smoke continues to affect air quality in western Massachusetts.
“Wildfire smoke from Canada will continue to influence fine particle levels in much of our region on Thursday,” the DEP posted Thursday. “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (USG) and Unhealthy levels are once again likely in western sections of the State.”
The DEP cautioned that air quality will be in the “moderate” range in central and eastern Massachusetts. The northeast corner of the state has avoided the impact of the smoke plume.
“Fine particle levels will likely average in the Good range in far northeast sections of the State and Moderate range in the remainder of eastern and central parts of the State,’’ the DEP posted Thursday.
John R. Ellement can be reached at john.ellement@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @JREbosglobe.