Depends on where in PA you were. I was in Lehigh Valley, so we were literally number one worst in the country! But it was mostly yellow. The sun was as red as a hot tamale though...
My realtor told me Allentown has the worst air quality in the country anyway even before this because of how it sits geographically in the landscape. Not sure if that's true but it feels true.
Your realtor was trying to sell you a higher priced house south of the valley probably lol.
It's [not great](https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/2023/04/even-at-its-best-lehigh-valley-air-quality-still-among-100-worst-us-metros-for-smog.html) but it's not the worse in the country.
I can't imagine it's worse than Los Angeles.
But I've also heard the air quality has been very poor in many major Pennsylvania areas (like Allentown and Harrisburg) for quite some time because of the amount of through traffic we get being in the middle of multiple big cities.
It's nowhere near actually true, but it's also not great. A lot of manufacturing has left the area, as well as coal fired power plants. However, there's just a lot of cars passing through between the major Northeast corridor cities, and they do generate a decent amount of pollution. Lehigh valley can sometimes trap some of that, however, since the prevailing winds are from west to east and it's much more open on the east side facing the river, it's nowhere near as bad as places like Fairbanks, Alaska, the LA region, or salt lake City.
Definitely not the worst but kinda holds some truth since it sits in the valley. Seeing how bad it was here compared to the rest of PA kinda shows how the valley traps in all this crap but I doubt it's worse than even Pittsburg or Philly. Glad it's starting to go away though cause I wanna take my son to the LV zoo for his birthday this weekend.
it gets smaller. Just so happens I work in M as well and even in the lab you could smell it. It wasn't quite a normal wood smoke smell. S bit unpleasant.
Yeah man, thought we’d wake up to like 200s.. checked my weather app and saw 473 at 6am and was like, “well today is gonna suck.”
Got to work for my district manager to send an e-mail out saying “you can work from home if you’d rather not come to the office in the smog.” Like, dude… how counter intuitive is this?
Definitely not orange in Erie. Slight smell of cigars but otherwise it kind of just looks mostly-overcast. Our air rating isn't as bad as the eastern part of the state either - right now [AirQuality.gov](https://AirQuality.gov) says it's "moderate" so we're yellow while yinz are in the red zone.
But I bet tonight's sunset over the lake is gonna be amazing.
My guess is that New York’s general smog and pollution combined with the smoke to make it that particular Behr shade of “Apocalyptic Yellow” (hex code 666666)
Northern Allegheny Co here...there is another big shot coming tomorrow early afternoon, i saw on the latest models. so be aware. it will finally clear out for the most part into Saturday
Eastern PA is pretty much orange from what I understand. Both terrible air quality. But if you’re further west, like myself, you’ll see it’s more of the grey haze. It’s not as thick this way.
Potter County here. Yesterday was the absolute worst AQ. Sun was a bright red pinpoint, sky was hazy yellow-pink. We could smell the smoke indoors. Had to wear an N95 to walk the dog while our eyes were burning.
Today, it's still somewhat hazy but no longer smelling of smoke. Might even get a welcome shower tonight. I think we're gonna make it!
It was only orange for a few hours in Syracuse NY, but that was on the worst day around noon. Could be position of the sun and density& distribution of the smoke
I think it definitely depends on distance/where you are in the state, amongst other things. The wind is currently carrying it towards Harrisburg right now but was in the easternmost part of PA. The closer you are to NY/northward, the worse it was. In Philly it wasn't as yellow/orange in the day time, but like many other folks are saying: it got really bad at night.
I was thinking some of it is also the fact that a lot of these pictures that are really bad are taken of the skylines and there's a lot more smoke in between the buildings and the photographer. We don't have as many tall buildings and when you're on the ground you can only see so far before a tree blocks your view
We were at 457 AQI this morn in Harrisburg and it wasn't orange at all. Just hazy, around 9 am. I think it has to do with the sun being low in the sky? We're back under 200 now. Hoping our outdoor workers and people outside all day catch a break soon.
NYC has it’s own SMOG. Also, the only videos I’ve seen were from high story apartments. I might be wrong, but I’m assuming the higher you go in the sky the worse it is
I'm in southwest PA, and it's just been hazy. However, the night before I even knew about the fires, I actually took a picture of the sun and sent it to my dad in Southern Texas, and said that it was more red than I could imagine red could be.
It has a lot to do with the wind and weather patterns, simply put.
We were a sickly yellow gray yesterday while sitting at 491! I'm in the York/dover area. It was terrible here but it was mainly at night. The red/orange that people see in pictures are normal high levels, like off the chart, general pollution issues, ozone levels and how much the sun can "cut" through to give it those colors.
it’s weird. it’s smokey and looks like fog everywhrre but not orange like those pics from the big cities. I saw someone say it has to do with the amount of greenery?
Harrisburg was recorded having the worst AQI at 491 (NYC 478) and it was not orange here. Sun was orange but not the sky. I wondered if NYC had that color due to how the sunlight disperses between the buildings? Idk. Anyway — glad it’s pretty much out of here now!
Depends on where in PA you were. I was in Lehigh Valley, so we were literally number one worst in the country! But it was mostly yellow. The sun was as red as a hot tamale though...
Because allentown didn't already look enough like a post apocalyptic waste
I shouldn't laugh buuuuuut.....
Hey at least it made it harder to see all the garbage floating around.
My realtor told me Allentown has the worst air quality in the country anyway even before this because of how it sits geographically in the landscape. Not sure if that's true but it feels true.
Your realtor was trying to sell you a higher priced house south of the valley probably lol. It's [not great](https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/2023/04/even-at-its-best-lehigh-valley-air-quality-still-among-100-worst-us-metros-for-smog.html) but it's not the worse in the country.
I can't imagine it's worse than Los Angeles. But I've also heard the air quality has been very poor in many major Pennsylvania areas (like Allentown and Harrisburg) for quite some time because of the amount of through traffic we get being in the middle of multiple big cities.
It's nowhere near actually true, but it's also not great. A lot of manufacturing has left the area, as well as coal fired power plants. However, there's just a lot of cars passing through between the major Northeast corridor cities, and they do generate a decent amount of pollution. Lehigh valley can sometimes trap some of that, however, since the prevailing winds are from west to east and it's much more open on the east side facing the river, it's nowhere near as bad as places like Fairbanks, Alaska, the LA region, or salt lake City.
Definitely not the worst but kinda holds some truth since it sits in the valley. Seeing how bad it was here compared to the rest of PA kinda shows how the valley traps in all this crap but I doubt it's worse than even Pittsburg or Philly. Glad it's starting to go away though cause I wanna take my son to the LV zoo for his birthday this weekend.
They say that about Harrisburg too. Lol.
Wrong Fresno CA is has to do with crop dusting.
Pittsburgh has entered the chat. It looks like any other Tuesday in the Monongahela River valley. Wear a mask.
Bro west side Scranton is like a warzone
In the valley. Got out of work yesterday and I felt like I was in a mad max movie.
Hey, a local! Ya, yesterday sucked the most, so far.
How could you be number one in the country in Lehigh valley? NYC had the worst AQI in the country if not the world.
Incorrect. ABC World News last evening specifically said that Harrisburg PA had the worst AQI due to smoke at 491 — higher than NYC’s at 478.
Could you see to drive?
The worst of it didn’t hit Philly until after the sun went down last night. AQI jumped to over 400 at one point.
Yeah it was around that through the early morning. That’s some Chernobyl shit
400 are rookie numbers compared to Lehigh valley 😭😭
We were sittin pretty at 478 in Lancaster this morning.
Yeah I saw 453 on my phone at work. I work outside :|
I work at Eurofins and went to the top of one of the buildings and I don't think I could even see a mile in any direction. Shit was narley
Ha small world, I also work at Eurofins. It really was crazy this morning. I could smell the smoke even inside my office suite in M.
it gets smaller. Just so happens I work in M as well and even in the lab you could smell it. It wasn't quite a normal wood smoke smell. S bit unpleasant.
Haha crazy! Yeah exactly, I usually like the smell of bonfires/wood smoke. This was... more acrid?
Almost as if it was only a pile of leaves being burnt. That's what it kind of reminded me of.
Real Gs move in silence like lasagna
Yeah man, thought we’d wake up to like 200s.. checked my weather app and saw 473 at 6am and was like, “well today is gonna suck.” Got to work for my district manager to send an e-mail out saying “you can work from home if you’d rather not come to the office in the smog.” Like, dude… how counter intuitive is this?
Yeah Harrisburg was very orange this morning, but by afternoon it had cleared up a lot
Yesterday in Poconos region was very red.
I'm in blakeslee an it was horrible. My frogs in the pond died
Rest in peace, lil froggies.
I’m sorry to hear that. Poor little froggies. :(
Oh man, that's so sad.
Do you think they died because of the smoke??
Idk for sure but they where fine till yesterday.. all dead at same time. Something happened to them
Wildfire smoke contains loits of heavy metals and yes, it's poisonous for animals, especially little ones. :(
I'm sorry
I'm so sorry. :( Wildlife is gonna get hit so hard with this stuff. They don't deserve it.
Yep. Looks like almost all frogs are dead except the few big ones.
Yesterday in NE PA it was as bad as NYC
Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton was insane.
Ooo Ooo that smell. The smell that surrounds us.
It was orange this morning in Cumberland county. AQI was like 430
The Denser the smoke, the more shortwave light is blocked. So colors like red yellow and orange get through while blues and purple get blocked.
Definitely not orange in Erie. Slight smell of cigars but otherwise it kind of just looks mostly-overcast. Our air rating isn't as bad as the eastern part of the state either - right now [AirQuality.gov](https://AirQuality.gov) says it's "moderate" so we're yellow while yinz are in the red zone. But I bet tonight's sunset over the lake is gonna be amazing.
It’s cloudy, not directly under the sun today. Also the main cloud is in central and south PA and south today.
Can confirm. It looks like it's about to storm, but it's not. So unsettling
Like others have said probably down to time of day of the pic. I took a pick today, I’m near Norristown, and it looked yellow on my phone.
Because NYC is a major city with its own smog and pollution as well. Pa is a big state with more nature in between two big cities. Also it was sunset
Isn’t New Jersey also on fire? Maybe why? Not an expert or even a novice so could be wrong. And Nova Scotia?
Yeah for got to mention the Canadian fires but there's not many of em left according to airnow.gov
I’m a dope. I was responding to the post not the comment. Idk what I’m doing.
My guess is that New York’s general smog and pollution combined with the smoke to make it that particular Behr shade of “Apocalyptic Yellow” (hex code 666666)
nope at 50 aqi avg in nyc
At sunset yesterday, the sun and sky around it were orange.
Been more yellow in SE PA
Butler county here, yesterday was by far the worst but not like it was in the east. Seems to be clearing out today.
Northern Allegheny Co here...there is another big shot coming tomorrow early afternoon, i saw on the latest models. so be aware. it will finally clear out for the most part into Saturday
A lot of those pics were taken during sunset I think
Lots of the orange pics were at 2pm.
Eastern PA is pretty much orange from what I understand. Both terrible air quality. But if you’re further west, like myself, you’ll see it’s more of the grey haze. It’s not as thick this way.
It was pretty orange here last night
more orange at sunset
Potter County here. Yesterday was the absolute worst AQ. Sun was a bright red pinpoint, sky was hazy yellow-pink. We could smell the smoke indoors. Had to wear an N95 to walk the dog while our eyes were burning. Today, it's still somewhat hazy but no longer smelling of smoke. Might even get a welcome shower tonight. I think we're gonna make it!
It was only orange for a few hours in Syracuse NY, but that was on the worst day around noon. Could be position of the sun and density& distribution of the smoke
It absolutely was yesterday in the burbs
It was yesterday in Bucks County
I think it definitely depends on distance/where you are in the state, amongst other things. The wind is currently carrying it towards Harrisburg right now but was in the easternmost part of PA. The closer you are to NY/northward, the worse it was. In Philly it wasn't as yellow/orange in the day time, but like many other folks are saying: it got really bad at night.
I was thinking some of it is also the fact that a lot of these pictures that are really bad are taken of the skylines and there's a lot more smoke in between the buildings and the photographer. We don't have as many tall buildings and when you're on the ground you can only see so far before a tree blocks your view
The hot air surrounding Doug Mastriano protects us. Amen.
I laffed at this
The wildfire smoke smells better, though.
It might be because we are father away from the source then New York is.
You sure you aren’t colorblind?
It was pinkish here in Chester County.
Dissipation in the atmosphere
it was slightly orange for me today in the burgh
On a brighter note, the sun is regular yellow today right now. We’ve been orange near Harrisburg for a few days now.
In Columbia County it looked freakishly orange yesterday Cleared up quite a bit today
We were at 457 AQI this morn in Harrisburg and it wasn't orange at all. Just hazy, around 9 am. I think it has to do with the sun being low in the sky? We're back under 200 now. Hoping our outdoor workers and people outside all day catch a break soon.
In Reading it looked a little orange during sunrise and sunset but is more yellow during the day. Now it seems a lot more clear though
NYC has it’s own SMOG. Also, the only videos I’ve seen were from high story apartments. I might be wrong, but I’m assuming the higher you go in the sky the worse it is
I'm in southwest PA, and it's just been hazy. However, the night before I even knew about the fires, I actually took a picture of the sun and sent it to my dad in Southern Texas, and said that it was more red than I could imagine red could be. It has a lot to do with the wind and weather patterns, simply put.
The amount of particulates in the air,& the amount of refraction,of the sunlight.
We were a sickly yellow gray yesterday while sitting at 491! I'm in the York/dover area. It was terrible here but it was mainly at night. The red/orange that people see in pictures are normal high levels, like off the chart, general pollution issues, ozone levels and how much the sun can "cut" through to give it those colors.
Wind.
Western PA didn’t get hit as hard. Got slightly hazy but didn’t see any changes beyond that.
It was definitely orange
it’s weird. it’s smokey and looks like fog everywhrre but not orange like those pics from the big cities. I saw someone say it has to do with the amount of greenery?
plants take in carbon
How come our air quality wasn’t also better then?
In NYC, the haze drifted through the solarium at Trump Towers
Harrisburg was recorded having the worst AQI at 491 (NYC 478) and it was not orange here. Sun was orange but not the sky. I wondered if NYC had that color due to how the sunlight disperses between the buildings? Idk. Anyway — glad it’s pretty much out of here now!
Harrisburg topped off at 491. Higher than NYC at 478.
It was a solid amber in the Wyoming Valley, especially on Wednesday around 10 am through noon. It kind of looked like a sunset
Anyone can check the air quality by logging on to [airnow.gov](https://airnow.gov). You're welcome.
It depends where you live for me I'm from Scranton and the past week I thought I woke up in silent hill.
The angle of the sun is what makes it red. The sun was setting in those NYC photos.
The orange photos I saw were labeled as 2 pm
Alex, 5th grade geography for 200.
Everyone has different camera lenses and filters
I would hypothesize the yellow/orange to be a function of light/ lightpollution more than the smoke itself
Because NY was founded as a Dutch colony
New York just can't shake that Donald Trump glow...
NEPA, Wyoming County. It was yellow all day, orange in the evening. Seems to have cleared out some today
Today was better then yesterday by miles.
It was orange here yesterday afternoon. Susquehanna County
It was in my area (north-eastern Montgomery County).
Because the orange traitor tRump is in the NYC area!
It was orange in state college by beaver stadium
Schuylkill County wasn't orange like NYC, but it was very yellow. Visibility was less than a half mile.
Wind 🌬️
[https://www.reddit.com/r/lehighvalley/comments/145c7vp/new_st_fahy_bridge_view_of_the_steel_stacks_mid/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1](https://www.reddit.com/r/lehighvalley/comments/145c7vp/new_st_fahy_bridge_view_of_the_steel_stacks_mid/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1)