toronto wildfire smoke

Toronto is about to get hazier than normal thanks to smoke from west coast wildfires

Exactly two years ago to the date, Toronto's normally-blue September skies turned an eerie greyish-orange as residual smoke from wildfires in the U.S. made its way into our atmosphere.

The same thing happened in July of 2021 as forest fires raged in B.C. and Northern Ontario, destroying everything in their paths and sending so much smoke to Canada's largest city that people could actually smell it.

Now, as wildfires wreak tragic hell upon west coast jurisdictions including Washington, Idaho, Alberta, B.C. and Texas, warnings are beginning to surface that more smoke could be headed toward eastern Canada and the U.S.

If meteorologists are correct, Toronto will fall into the "red zone" of haze as a result of the fires by Thursday afternoon.

"Here comes the smoke! Wildfire smoke aloft is expected to arrive this afternoon across the area. The thickest smoke is expected tomorrow afternoon," wrote Toledo, Ohio's 13abc on Facebook Wednesday morning when sharing a map of impacted zones.

"Vibrant sunrises and sunsets are possible the next 2 days."

While it's impossible to say when, exactly, conditions in Toronto will get murky — if they do at all — The BlueSky Canada smoke forecast map suggests that smoke particles could be hitting Toronto late this week.

If the results are anything like they were last time, we'll indeed be treated to spectacular red suns and cool orange skies... but at the expense of thousands of people and more wild animals than most people could ever stomach.

Lead photo by

A Great Capture


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