Pennsylvania is again under an air quality alert. When will Centre County see relief?

The entire state of Pennsylvania is again under an advisory for air quality due to smoke from Canadian wildfires — but, according to experts, relief shouldn’t be too far behind.

On Monday, the state Department of Environmental Protection issued a statewide Code Orange Air Quality Action Day for fine particulate matter, meaning the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups and that young children, the elderly and those with respiratory problems (e.g. asthma, bronchitis) should limit their outdoor activities. But, according to AccuWeather, air quality shouldn’t be as bad Tuesday and should see greater improvement Wednesday.

“We believe that haze and air quality will still be an issue tonight, probably the better part of Tuesday,” senior AccuWeather meteorologist Bob Larson told the CDT on Monday afternoon. “Then we should catch a break at midweek, Wednesday or perhaps early Thursday. Air quality could deteriorate again later in the week, later Thursday or perhaps into Friday.

“But, to be honest with you, predicting air quality as opposed to predicting weather is very difficult beyond the first 24-36 hours.”

The National Weather Service said the statewide Code Orange alert will end at midnight. But the state DEP issued another Code Orange alert for Tuesday for multiple parts of Pennsylvania, including the State College area.

According to Larson, Wednesday should offer a reprieve because a Tuesday cold front should help clean the air. But with temperatures and humidity expected to rise again later in the week, the AccuWeather meteorologist believed that could produce other pollutants — such as ozone — and negatively impact the air quality again, to some extent.

Still, Larson said there were clear differences between Monday’s latest air quality alert and the advisories the state has seen in the past. The latest haze and air pollution is from western Canada, not Quebec and Ontario like before. And, because the smoke is traveling farther, that means the smoke is higher in the atmosphere and not just on the surface.

“It’s not as if there’s a choking, repugnant smell of campfires out there right now,” Larson said. “We could really smell it a month ago. I suppose some can still smell it, but I wasn’t able to smell anything outside, and I was outside for an extended period of time.

“We can see how hazy it is and how smoky the sky looks, but it’s mostly elevated smoke as opposed to ground-level smoke.”

According to the state DEP, there could be a few hours of Code Red concentrations during overnight and early morning Tuesday. To check the latest air quality readings and alert status, go to airnow.gov.