That number was expected to improve slightly with the sunshine during the day, before declining again amid darkening skies, he said. Conditions were worse, however, during recent wildfires in the western United States, including the California Complex Fire in August 2020.Įrik Taylor, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service, said the milky haze enveloping the area Wednesday morning reduced visibility in some areas to 2-4 miles. in more than 20 years, likening it to conditions more frequently seen amid industrial pollution in the developing world. Meteorologists at AccuWeather dubbed Wednesday’s event the worst smoke outbreak in the northeastern U.S. “It’s something we haven’t really had to deal with since the late 1990s, and that was primarily with ozone.”
Randy Mosier, deputy program manager with the air quality planning program at the Maryland Department of the Environment, said Wednesday’s air quality event is unusual for the Baltimore area.
“If anyone has any type of side effects, who smoke or have any lung conditions, they should absolutely decide to wear masks for their safety to avoid any type of health issues,” Oliver said. “It’s like walking around casinos back in the day,” he said.Īs the poor air quality continues, Kirkham said he’s expecting an uptick of patients seeking hospital care for breathing concerns, exacerbated lung conditions, heart attacks and strokes, though he hasn’t seen an increase just yet.Īs Lebonne Oliver walked to work in downtown Baltimore on Wednesday, she donned a face mask, aiming to protect herself from the pollutants since she suffers from asthma. Jay Kirkham, an interventional pulmonologist at Franklin Square Medical Center in Baltimore, compared prolonged exposure to the hazy conditions to breathing in secondhand cigarette smoke.
All community-sponsored programs on HCPSS outdoor facilities are also canceled.ĭr. Individual schools will communicate that information to families as soon as possible. It also has directed schools to move all activities indoors, if possible, or to reschedule or cancel. Howard County Public Schools has canceled all outdoor activities in the HCPSS system, including those planned for after school, through Thursday.
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