Sustainability Environment

Why is the sun red today? How wildfire smoke is coloring the sky across America

by Joseph Guzman | July 20, 2021 | Jul. 20, 2021

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Story at a glance

  • The National Weather Service on Tuesday shared satellite images of smoke and haze drifting across New York and the Tri-State area.
  • The sun across much of the Northeastern U.S. has had a red-orange tinge this week.
  • Wildfire smoke scatters the sunlight, making red, which has the longest wavelength of light, appear more prominently.

As raging wildfires continue to burn across several Western states and Canada, winds are carrying smoke all the way across the country to the East Coast, resulting in a hazy sky. 

The National Weather Service (NWS) on Tuesday shared satellite images of smoke and haze drifting across New York and the tri-state area encompassing parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. 

“This will filter the sunshine here throughout the day today,” NWS New York NY tweeted Tuesday. 

The sun across much of the Northeastern U.S. has had a red-orange tinge this week due to smoke burning thousands of miles to the west. 

The wildfire smoke scatters the sunlight, making the color red, which has the longest wavelength of light, appear more prominently. 

During last year’s fire season, smoke made its way to Washington, D.C., causing the sky to turn hazy, while San Francisco residents woke up to an “apocalyptic” deep orange sky. 

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The smoke this week prompted air quality alerts in New York, Pennsylvania and other parts of the East Coast, urging sensitive groups to stay indoors as the particulate matter in the air could be harmful. 

“Wildfire smoke should reach its peak concentration over Pennsylvania on Tuesday afternoon and some near surface smoke may also contribute to another day of hazy conditions,” the NWS in State College, Pa., said. 

This year’s wildfire season has already been devastating. At least 80 large fires have burned more than 1.2 million acres, and the largest burning in the U.S., the Bootleg Fire in southern Oregon, has scorched nearly 400,000 acres alone with 32 percent containment as of Tuesday. 

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