There are two U.S. cities in the top 10 globally for worst air pollution among major cities worldwide Wednesday morning: Chicago and Detroit. However, Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin, as well as Buffalo, New York, have similar air quality to Chicago and Detroit but are not considered “major cities.”
On Wednesday afternoon, the smoke is expected to move over Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., while holding over much of Pennsylvania and New York, as calming high pressure and stable winds could hold onto this haze over the Northeast through much of the week and potentially even the weekend.
Meanwhile, red flag warnings are in place across five states in the West -- Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and Idaho -- as critical fire danger conditions hold strong. Single-digit humidity and wind gusts from 35 to 55 mph are possible, depending on your location within these alerts.
Conditions are expected to remain critical through at least Friday but may continue into the weekend as well.
Extreme heat warnings remain in place for parts of southeast California, southern Nevada and much of Arizona -- where high temperatures between 108 and 118 degrees are possible through Friday.
Record high temperatures are also possible for Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, through Thursday, as well as Albuquerque through Friday.
Less-extreme conditions are expected this weekend but next week intense heat is expected to return to the Northeast and much of the country will be feeling above-average temperatures.
