Yesterday, a thermal inversion meant smoke from fires in Salem and nearby communities stayed close to the ground and came down into the Boston area. The thermal inversion is still there this morning as Nicholas Agri shows in photos from the Cottage Park Yacht Club in Winthrop. He reports the wind was blowing east today, but some folks are still reporting the odor of smoke.
Photo of this morning's orange sky by Brooks Payne.
The state Department of Environmental Protection has issued an air-quality alert for Massachusetts, which runs through midnight, due to smoke from wildfires in Quebec and Ontario. Read more.
A bit subtle, but Nova Scotia smoke over eastern Mass. at 12:36 p.m, via the GOES East satellite.
The National Weather Service office in Norton reports that smoke from raging fires north of Halifax has been blown down here. And unlike with the Alberta smoke, which stayed high up in the atmosphere: Read more.
Rick Macomber focused on the sun setting in the smoky haze from West Coast fires over Salem Willows this evening.
Matt Frank watched the sun disappear into the haze over the Tobin Bridge from Chelsea: Read more.
Nathaniel Stinnett shows us the hazy sky over the Tobin Bridge this morning, due to the western forest fires. The EPA says Boston's air quality is good today - all that smoke is up between 20,000 and 30,000 feet high.
In East Boston, Marta watched the sun go down through West Coast fire haze over Boston Harbor this evening.
Mary Ellen watched the sunset from West Roxbury: Read more.
Mary Ellen watched the sun come up through a haze from West Coast forest fires this morning at the Arnold Arboretum.
From Winthrop to Salem to Roslindale, people on Twitter are reporting the smell of smoke. As I type this, the air on Grew Hill on the Roslindale/Hyde Park line smells like something's burning somewhere. But this time, the fires are way farther away than Quebec: We could be breathing in the remains of fires in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories, as shown on this NOAA map:
The Boston Fire Department reports a fire that erupted shortly before 6 p.m. in a triple decker at 180 Chelsea St. quickly went to one alarm as it burned through the rear porches on the second and third floors.
All of the residents got out safely; the Red Cross is now on scene to help them find a place to stay.
It's the mother of all mulch fires: Winds from the north are blanketing the Boston area with the smell of a series of forest fires in central Quebec. It's so noticeable, the National Weather Service has issued an advisory and a forecast:
Areas of smoke before 3pm.
Michael Page of Hingham Weather took this video today. Normally, you'd see the ocean:
Before you shake an angry fist northward, read about how parts of Quebec are under a smog warning.
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